Our Fame and Fortune
by Emey Troi
Summary: Johnny gets some advice from his Dad and starts to see Meena in a new light. Meanwhile, Buster Moon suggests that Johnny and Meena try out on a duet but Meena's anxieties start coming back and she's not sure if singing on stage again, even with a partner this time, is really going to work out.
1. To Share it With

AN: None of the characters in this fanfiction belong to me. I've noticed there's a sparse number of Johnny x Meena fanfics out there so I wanted to add one onto the pile.

Johnny tried to ignore the buzzing of talking noise in the visiting room as he sat across from his father who looked too big between the small spaces provided for their visiting sessions. People all around them chatted noisily while Johnny patiently watched his father read through the article in the paper about the latest performance at Moon Theatre. His father shook his head with joyful disbelief.

"That Moon is a real piece of work. Says 'ere he practically demanded the news to cover his latest show! Ha!"

Johnny's eyebrows rose in pride as he nodded, "Yea, he can be pretty pushy sometimes."

His father put the paper down, smoothing the corners out before turning to look up at Johnny through the thick inches of glass between them, "I'm proud of you, Son. You've got a lot of promising opportunities that've come your way."

Johnny's smile widened into a toothy grin before he looked down and glanced away abashedly.

"Seems 't me that your work with that Mr. Moon and Mrs. Crawly is comin' along pretty well. The work at the garage and that part time singing gig are keepin' ya busy 'n out of trouble, yeah? Now there's only one thin' left."

Johnny raised his eyes. What did his father mean by that?

"'Ave ya got a girlfriend yet?"

Johnny sputtered. "Whut? D-Dad, not even!"

His father huffed in disappointment, shifting himself in the tiny metal chair that complained as he leaned his broad shoulders back in it. "Whut do ya mean whut? When I was your age I was hooking up with all kinds 'a gals! I wasn' much older then you when I met your Mum!"

Johnny felt his dark furry face begin to burn in embarrassment as a buffalo, a young woman visiting her ex boyfriend, smiled in amusement next to him as she overheard some of their conversation. He lowered his head and tried to hide behind the lapels of his jacket.

"Daaaaad…" He hissed as his eyes glanced from side to side.

"Whut? 'M I not allowed to ask 'bout my famous son's love life now? Whut about them girls, 'th ones from your show before? Whut were their names- Ash and Meena was it?"

His father's memory was too good.

"Ya hooked up with either of them?"

Johnny quickly shook his head and lowered himself further beneath the giant orange phone in his hands.

"No, Dad, I haven't. I haven't got anyone, okay? 'M not really interested in anyone and besides Ash isn't even in town much these days with her new label an' everythin' and Meena, well, she's busy with her choir 'n I don't think 'm really her type."

His father huffed again in annoyance, deciding to give up the pursuit. He only brought up Ash and Meena a couple of times in passing during the rest of their conversation, asking how they were doing more than anything else and reminding Johnny that he needed to bring his "theatre gang" by sometime so he could meet all of them.

Right as Johnny was about to hang the phone up for the morning his father tapped the glass, stopping him.

"Now Johnny, I know it bothers ya fer me to get into your business and all but listen, right? You're setting down a path 't be well off but think, son. What's all this fame and glory worth if you got no one 't share it with?"

Johnny froze, his heart squeezing tight in his chest as he lifted the phone back to his ear. The phone had warmed from being against his face all morning but now it suddenly felt a little chill.

"But Dad… I got you to share it with."

His father smiled a little, touched by Johnny's words, than his blue eyes looked sadly away, his smile turning bitter sweet.

"Son, I'm gonna be here a while. You need to find someone that can be by your side. Jus' think about it, yeah?"

Johnny hesitated, his dark brown eyes staring into his father's sad face. His father suddenly looked so much older than it had only a couple of months ago.

"Yeah, alright. I will. Love ya, Dad."

"See ya, Johnny. Be safe drivin' home."

Johnny hooked his thumbs in his blue jean pockets as he silently made his way back to his father's black truck, his father's words haunting him. He gripped the slim door handle and slammed the door shut before leaning forward and resting his forehead on the hot leather of the red and white stripped steering wheel. Before he could think too hard Johnny forced his fingers to press down on the buttons of his green smart phone, the tone ringing as he held it up to his ear.

"Hello?" A sweet, chipper voice answered.

"Hey Rosita, it's Johnny."

"Oh, Johnny! What a surprise! How are you doing?"

"Uh, well, I just got out of meetin' with my Dad 'n I was wonderin'… is it okay if I come over for a bit?"

This wasn't the first time Johnny had called to visit Rosita at her home for a respite. After everything that had happened with the first show at Buster Moon's theatre Rosita had become a den mother of sorts for all of the younger contestants. Although there wasn't much of an age gap between them Johnny still enjoyed the comfort and council that only Rosita could give.

"Of course you can come over! Is there something wrong?"

"Well, no, not really. I'll tell you about it when I get there."

"Alright. See you soon. Bye."

"Bye."

Johnny started the car and drove out. He had memorized the path to Rosita's big blue and orange house just a few streets out of town and made it there in no time. He sat contently on a stool in Rosita's blue painted kitchen, chewing on some freshly baked peanut butter cookies. It was a little awkward trying to lean over the counter but he made it work.

"I think your father's right, Johnny." Rosita said over the rush of the facet as she filled the sink with dirty dishes.

Johnny frowned and looked down at his hands. His hands were so big they practically dwarfed the half-eaten cookie.

"I know he is." Johnny sighed, "But me? A girlfriend? How do you get a girlfriend anyways?"

Rosita laughed, rubbing some soap suds off of her face with the side of her arm, "Well, you go on dates. Put yourself out there. Maybe you could try asking a few girls out."

Johnny shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth, eating it too fast to take the time to taste it, and got up off of his stool. He shrugged off his black leather jacket and carefully laid it out on the counter top, rolling up the long sleeves of his signature green and yellow shirt so he could help Rosita with the dishes, adding his cookie plate to the pile. Rosita looked up at him gratefully and scrubbed while he rinsed and set the dishes to the side to dry.

"I've asked girls out before. I'd been on a few dates in High School and a little after I graduated but none of it has really worked for me so far."

Rosita looked up at him sympathetically as she handed him a small breakfast bowl.

"You just need to keep trying, Johnny. Ask out a friend every once in a while or find out what kind of girls some of your friends know. Besides, aren't you the one that talked to Mrs. Crawly about dating a while back?"

Johnny laughed and reminisced about helping Mrs. Crawly with her online dating experience.

"Maybe I should take up moon bathing."

They both smiled a little at that. Johnny helped Rosita finish cleaning everything up and left just before her twenty five kids all came back from school. He loved Rosita but it didn't feel right to take up all of her time when she had so many of her own kids to worry about. On the drive back to the garage Johnny thought distractedly about his meeting with his father and about the advice he'd gotten from Rosita. He thought about Ash with her soaring career and how they had established a pretty good friendship before she'd left but he'd never felt any sparks flying between them. Finally, his mind turned to sweet, good-natured Meena and all of the experiences they'd been through during their first event. It was then that Johnny realized he knew very little about the shy, blue eyed elephant. Before he could even think about getting a girlfriend Johnny decided he should focus on trying to get to know his friends a little better first.


	2. A Solo

Meena shifted uncomfortably in the incredibly small chair in Pastor Gate's office, her eyes staring into her Pastor's face as if he had suddenly sprouted a second head.

"A solo?" she repeated back to him unsteadily.

The gator readjusted his black suit smartly and smiled in encouragement. Despite his polished appearance and despite being several inches smaller then she was Meena still felt intimidated by him. Pastor Gate's office felt suddenly more cramped then usual with the certificates of his ministry boring down on her from every side.

"Yes. We've been looking for a new soloist ever since Mrs. Abernathy passed away last spring and seeing as how you've done a couple of shows at that refurbished theatre, why not? You've been a great help with our backup vocals but what we really need right now is a good, strong solo singer. How do you like the sound of that?"

Meena shook her head unsteadily, her large ears flopping against her cheeks and hiding her face deeper behind them. She didn't like the sound of that at all. Singing at Buster Moon's theatre wasn't all that her Pastor seemed to think it was. Moon's theatre was home. It was comfort, security, and confidence. She'd found her voice there and Moon had always been supportive of her potential. Here she was still starting out, trying to build her way into being confident enough to sing in front of her own friends and family.

Pastor Gate sighed, his black leather chair squeaking as he leaned forward and readjusted the paperwork on his desk for the fifth time during their meeting.

"Take some time to think about it, alright?"

Meena agreed that she would and hurried out of the building as fast as her lumbering tennis shoes could carry her. Her blue eyes stared down at the cracked cement steps in front of her, cars whistling by, oblivious to her sudden tormenting thoughts. She reached deep into the pockets of her baby blue sweat shirt and pulled out her headphones, slowly placing them over her ears with a sigh as the music drowned the heavy burden from her mind. She walked and walked and ended up where she always did when she couldn't get her thoughts in order; right in front of Moon Theatre.

The theatre shaded her perfectly from the sun as she looked up and stared at all the intricate designs, slowly taking off her headphones to hear the sounds of the street. She liked the new water tanks in the front and the fancy carvings of Nana Noodleman in her younger days at the top. It had been such a great tribute to Miss Noodleman and Meena was still in awe about how detailed everything was.

"Meena?"

Meena gave a squealing jump as she hurried away from the voice that had startled her, far below her knees. Buster gave Meena an amused and inquisitive look as he shifted a bag of groceries in his hands.

"M-Mr. Moon! I didn't think you were going to be here. You startled me."

"Yeah, I can tell." His big fuzzy ears twitched and he smiled his usual upbeat smile, "How are you doing, kid? I haven't seen you in a while." He gestured towards the large, towering theatre with his stubby little thumb, "Would you like to come in?"

Meena turned her eyes back to the large double doors and hesitated before smiling shyly, nodding. Moon smiled widely back and shimmied awkwardly up the steps with his full bags of groceries. Meena took the food from his hands as Buster dug around in his suit pockets to pull out a small key ring, giving the doors a jimmy to unlock them.

They made their way up to Buster Moon's makeshift living space and set all the food up in his small portable fridge. It was only then that Meena realized that Moon lived in the theatre house. It made sense; she had never seen the theatre without Moon in it.

Moon smacked his hands together once they were done and looked up at Meena, smiling.

"Did you bring me a cake?" He asked.

Meena blinked as she processed his words and shook her head, "Um, no. I can next time, if you want me to."

Buster laughed, "I was teasing you, kid. It just seems like whenever you're coming here to the theatre you're always bringing a cake to apologize or encourage me or something. Or encourage yourself."

Meena smiled shyly, hiding a little more behind her ears.

"Yeah, I do, sometimes."

"So what's eating ya, kid?"

She shook her head and looked around at his small office, "Nothing, really. I just needed someplace to think."

Meena was a little surprised by all of the pictures Buster already had up in his office. His space wasn't much different from how it had been before the theatre had been wrecked but he had gotten a little more organized with his decorating. Meena sometimes still felt sorry for the Koala when she thought of how much he had lost during the water tank incident. She could still remember the rush of the water, the flying pieces of rubble, and all the debris and damage that the water had caused. They all could've drowned if Johnny hadn't been quick thinking and used his strength to get them all unstuck. Meena's smile widened as her eyes found their way to two special photos; Moon Theatre's first opening, a beautiful black and white photo with a ruined frame, and Moon Theatre's grand reopening, with the whole gang standing behind Buster.

Buster Moon cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to him, "Speaking of thinking of things. Meena, I was thinking about our next performance and I'm wondering if you would like-"

"Oh Mister Moon!"

Moon froze mid-sentence, turning to look at Miss Crawly as she slowly hobbled into the room with a blue floral designed cup in her hands.

"I thought I heard your voice, Mister Moon!" Miss Crawly declared joyfully in her old, squeaky voice, "I brought you a cup of coffee. Oh, and Ash called you earlier and asked for you to call her back as soon as you could!"

Moon took his coffee cup from Miss Crawly's scaly fingers with a look of quick-blinking concern as he processed the old lizard's last statement. He didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that there was no longer coffee in the coffee cup, setting the empty cup down on his table distractedly and crawling up into his chair by using his desk drawer as a stepping stool. Meena watched curiously as Buster Moon quickly dialed Ash's number, his eyebrows practically dancing on his face as he ran through his thoughts. The phone rang for a long while before eventually going to voicemail. Buster hummed thoughtfully before leaving a brief message telling Ash to call him back.

After he hung up the phone Meena leaned forward anxiously, fingering the cord of her headphones in her jacket pocket. Moon's giant ears sagged momentarily as he thought, his eyes darting from side to side and his finger tapping against his big black nose.

"Um, Mister Moon? Is something wrong?"

She didn't want to say it but she could feel his worry rolling off of him in waves.

"Mhuh?"

Buster Moon looked up quickly, suddenly remembering that Meena was still standing there in the room. He smiled a cheery smile.

"Oh, yes. Yes, everything is fine."

Then his brow furrowed and Meena knew for sure that everything wasn't fine.

"Sorry, Meena, but there's some unexpected business that I need to attend to so I'll need to call you later tonight to discuss some of what I was hoping to set up with you and Johnny in the upcoming performance."

Buster Moon shook his blue suit jacket off his shoulders, rolled up his white sleeves, and went back to dialing numbers on his phone as Meena was slowly ushered out of the room by Miss Crawly's gentle hand on her elbow. As soon as they were out of earshot and in Miss Crawly's pink painted office, Meena turned to the old lizard for information.

"Is there something wrong with Ash and Mister Moon?" she asked, hoping to piece together some of the details.

Miss Crawly looked up at Meena with her one eye and smiled a long, wrinkled smile, "I'm not sure." She said, taking a moment to think about it, "But I do know that Miss Ash has been calling Mister Moon an awful lot lately!"

Miss Crawly wasn't much help after that. The only thing she knew about it was that she'd transferred quite a few calls and that every time Ash had called she'd sounded rather upset. Meena gave Miss Crawly a small wave goodbye as the lizard saw her out before she turned back to the street and headed home. Suddenly, Meena had a lot of things to think about.

When she got home Meena did her best to bake her worries away, not saying much despite her Mom's constant questioning and her grandparent's concern. She waited and waited and waited for Buster to call but as it got later in the day Meena couldn't help but feel that he had forgotten. Meena turned to her mother's old phone as it sat gingerly on the counter. She hated calling people. She took a deep breath and dialed the number for Mister Moon's office. Immediately, in her ear she could hear, "The number you have dialed is busy, please leave a message-"and Meena slowly and sadly hung up the phone.

Her conversation with her Pastor this morning was dashed from her mind as she iced a black and red cake, imagining the worst. All she could do was hope that Ash would be alright and that Moon would be able to help her.


	3. A Duet

AN: Thank you everyone for all of the lovely reviews and notes of encouragement! It helps give me motivation to work on this fanfic so, really, thank you so much! C:

Johnny quickly slammed the garage doors shut before scooping up his skateboard, shoving an apple in his mouth as he locked the doors behind him, keys jangling in his pocket. He was always grateful that Moon Theatre wasn't far from the shop. It gave him the chance to save money on gas. He weaved around pedestrians, skating to a stop as he waited for the light to change. His eyes wandered as he thought about the car he was fixing up for Miss Crawly's boyfriend, absently humming his favorite song from The Zombies, until suddenly his thoughts cleared as he spotted a familiar face on the other side of the street.

Meena was walking distractedly, head down, focusing on the pink cake tin in her hands as she listened to soothing music on her headphones. Johnny put his hand over his eyes to block the bright sunlight as he focused in on her. Even from a distance he could see that Meena was distracted. She was seconds away from running right into a broken metal dolly stacked with boxes as a monkey, one of the store clerks, stood in the doorway of his shop, yelling something at the employees inside.

Johnny leapt onto his skateboard the second the light changed, soaring around people who yelled at him as he passed. He skidded to a stop and jumped off the board just as Meena collided with the boxes. Johnny wrapped one long arm firmly around her waist as she started to fall, knocking his elbow hard against the boxes and scraping his other hand on a sharp edge of the broken dolly. Meena squeaked in surprise as she tried to regain her footing, dropping her cake hard on the cement sidewalk. Johnny grunted painfully as he slowly readjusted Meena to a safe position.

The monkey standing at the storefront turned just in time to see the whole ordeal and gasped, smacking his hands to his face.

"Oh my goodness, are you two alright?!" He yelled as he hurried over to help them.

He steadied Meena and peeled her hoofs off from around Johnny's neck as Johnny took a deep breath, easing himself off of the other side of the boxes. The top box had been knocked down when Johnny had reached out and now there were broken cement tiles scattered across the pavement. Now Johnny knew why his elbow hurt so much.

"Oh my goodness, Johnny, thank you!" Meena gasped, putting her hoof to her heart, "Are you okay?"

Johnny rubbed his sore elbow absently as he responded with a weak smile.

"Oh, yea, 'm alrigh'." He reassured her.

Meena gasped, staring at his hand that was still holding onto the edge of the broken dolly, her ears going wide off her face in horror.

"Johnny, you're bleeding!"

Johnny stared at his hand, peeling it off the blood-stained dolly slowly, finally processing the pain through the adrenaline. The broken metal had scraped deep into the soft pad of his hand and his blood had started to stain the edge of his favorite shirt. The store clerk, Tom, hurried into the store, grabbing some gauze and a towel from his sparse first aid kit. He apologized profusely for not having more and insisted he would restock it as soon as he could. He also insisted that they didn't need to help put away any of the tile.

"I'm really so very sorry! I'll make sure to be more careful so nothing like this happens again."

Johnny waved him away good-naturedly, "'Ey, don't worry. 'S fine, really."

Meena left Johnny and Tom to talk for a moment as she tentatively walked to where her cake had slid off to. Opening it, she saw that the cake had received minimal damage but the frosting had smeared slightly to one side of the can. She sighed in defeat, hoping that Ash didn't mind having half-frosted cake.

Johnny came up beside her as he held the gauze to his hand. He looked over her shoulder and winced as he saw the smeared cake.

"Oi, sorry about th' cake, Meena…"

Meena turned and stood in front of him, giving him a half-hearted smile.

"It's okay, Johnny."

Meena looked back at the boxes as Tom tried to fit the tiles back in the top box. She blushed in embarrassment a little as she thought of how she'd desperately held onto Johnny's neck. She turned her wide eyes down to the ground.

"Thanks for breaking my fall."

Johnny beamed a little at her gratitude.

"Oh, yea, no problem! Sorry I didn' make it there sooner."

Meena grabbed Johnny's skateboard for him as they made their way to the theatre, both of them hoping there would a more equipped first aid kit. Johnny's hand and elbow were both starting to ache. Moon turned away from his clipboard when he heard the front doors open, his face lifting as soon as he saw the two of them walk into the foyer.

"Johnny! Meena! Just the two people I wanted to see!" He paused, his expression dropping to confusion as he looked at Johnny, "What happened to you hand, Johnny?"

"Meena and I had a small accident with some boxes." He explained briefly.

Moon's blue eyes looked them up and down.

"Hm. Must've been some accident."

Meena and Johnny both looked down and then turned to look at each other, not realizing until that moment that they were both caked in dust from the boxes. Moon directed them to the first aid kit so Johnny could get some ointment on his wound and told them to meet everyone on the stage as soon as they were done. Meena ran after Moon as he started walking away, writing something on his clipboard.

"Mister Moon!"

He paused and turned back to her just as Meena held out the cake tin. He looked down at it with some confusion.

"You know I was joking about the whole cake thing, right?"

Meena blinked, "Oh, no, sorry the cake's not for you. I was just wondering… would you mind giving this to Ash when you see her next?" Meena's shoulders slumped a little. "The frosting is a little smeared and I know it's not any of my business but I was really worried about her last night. I kept thinking about what Miss Crawly said and how concerned you were. I didn't know what else to do."

Moon slowly looked up at Meena, a smile twitching up on his mouth as he took in a grateful breath of air.

"Sure thing, kid."

He asked her to drop it off in his office for him and promised that he'd get it to Ash as soon as he could. Meena hurried up to Moon's office and put the cake carefully in his fridge. When she looked up at the freezer she suddenly thought of Johnny and his poor elbow. Meena rifled through some of Moon's things looking for a plastic bag, hoping that Moon wouldn't mind, and quickly filled the bag with ice, wrapping a clean wash cloth around it. She hurried down the stairs to where Johnny was sitting wrapping up his hand. Johnny jumped a little in his seat, almost knocking over the first aid kit, as Meena held the bag of ice out for him.

"Your elbow probably really hurts. You should put ice on it so it doesn't swell."

Johnny smiled and took the ice gratefully as they both made their way onto the stage. Rosita and Gunter sat on props on center stage, waiting, as Moon continued to scribble on his clipboard, standing on a small wooden stool. The company felt a little small without Ash and Mike there. Ash had been busy ever since their first performance on live TV and no one knew where Mike had disappeared to.

"There they are!" Moon declared excitedly, hopping off of his stool, "Alright, now that you're all here we can finally discuss our upcoming event! This next gig is going to be big and we only have only two months to get ready. Nana Noodleman is going to be making a guest star appearance and we need some great performances to compliment her singing." He pointed his pen out at the group, "Obviously, you are all our first picks. We have a couple of other people that Nana and I have selected that I'll be interviewing later, individually. They will be joining us in future meetings. Now I've made each of you a list of songs I thought would fit for this performance. I want you to look over them carefully and choose one that will most compliment your own styles." Moon made his way around the group, handing out slips of paper from off his clipboard.

Johnny quickly scanned his paper as he held his ice pack with his other hand. Most of the songs seemed pretty familiar but as he read through them he noticed something odd.

"Um, Mister Moon?"

Moon smiled his way, "Yes, Johnny?"

"All of these songs on m' list are duet songs. 'M not sure I understand. Am I gonna be 'n a duet now?"

Rosita raised her hoof, "And why do Gunter and I have two lists on our paper?"

Moon walked back to his stool and shuffled onto it so he could stand at everyone's eye level.

"I'm glad so glad you both asked!" He pointed his pen first at Johnny and then at Meena, "If you two look closely you'll find that your lists are exactly the same. Both of you have outstanding singing talent, really you do, and so I was thinking why not put your talents together?"

Johnny blinked while Meena's dark brows furrowed in concern on her face.

"Singing? Together?" Meena asked hesitantly, all her comfort and confidence on the stage slowly seeping out of her.

Johnny's shoulders relaxed and his face turned into a soft smile. He liked the idea of singing with Meena. It's true that Johnny had never really sung with anyone before but the thought left him feeling excited and nervous at the same time. After so many years of hiding his love for music he finally had someone he might be able to share and enjoy it with.

Moon turned to Rosita and Gunter, pointing his pen at them, "Now Rosita and Gunter! I absolutely love you two as a team. I want to keep that. So, one list is for the two of you to look over together. The second list is for you to be singing separate with other groups. Rosita, you'll be singing a duet with Miss Nana Noodleman herself. Gunter, you'll be helping sing and teach choreography to one of our other featured groups, the Q-Teez. They've been practicing their English so hopefully things will go a lot smoother than it did last time."

Gunter practically sparkled at the idea, "Oh yah! That's going to be super exciting!"

Rosita seemed like she wasn't sure whether to be excited or terrified. Getting to perform with Nana Noodleman was an amazing opportunity but at the same time it meant that she had two acts to prepare for and only two months to prepare. How was she going to pull that off when she still had so much of her own life she needed to take care of?

Moon went over a few other specifics before excusing them to go practice on their own. Everyone stood up but Meena who continued to sit on the edge of a prop cliff, staring for a few moments at her paper. She stood up and walked over to Moon, holding her paper out in front of him.

"I'm sorry Mister Moon but I can't do the next performance."

Everyone froze, turning to look at Meena and Moon in shock. Moon blinked as he processed her statement, slowly taking the paper out of her hoofs.

"You can't do the next performance? Why not?"

Meena shuffled her feet, "I just can't. I'm sorry."

She hurried off towards the front of the theatre, putting her headphones over her ears to drown out Moon's voice as he shouted her name behind her. Johnny watched in silence as Meena disappeared, bothered by her sudden decision. He looked down at the printed paper in his hand, wondering how he was going to do a duet without anyone to do it with.


	4. Songs that Come Easily

Johnny was sure that Meena would be back the next day with an apology cake. To his great surprise, she wasn't. As soon as Johnny had entered the building, Moon handed him a new list to choose and practice with. Johnny could tell that Moon was just as disappointed as he was but neither of them knew what to do about it. Johnny slowly walked up the creaky stairs behind Miss Crawly up to the practice room that had been remodeled after the water incident. Johnny shuffled over to the new grand piano in the corner, taking off his leather jacket and hanging it on the side of the piano bench. He slowly went through a few of the songs, trying to pinpoint a couple of pieces that would be easy to play. His left hand ached where he'd cut it the other day and every now and then he had to pause to rub the sore. Johnny had set up a time to go and see his community doctor but his appointment wasn't until later in the week; just another thing for him to be worrying about.

Johnny tried again and again at a few songs but his heart just wasn't in it. He groaned after another mess up, leaning his face forward against the piano. He turned to find that Miss Crawly had left the room - probably to go fetch a cup of coffee. Johnny hurriedly picked up his jacket and pulled out the wrinkled list of duets he'd been given yesterday. He searched for some of the sheet music on his smart phone and quickly set the phone up in front of the sheet music that Miss Crawly had provided. The notes were so small all he could do was lean forward and squint at them as they scrawled across his smart phone.

These songs came easily. With every note that he played he sang part of it, humming the part where Meena would come in. There was still a few times where he needed to stop for a moment and go back to make some corrections but he loved it and even the pain in his hand dulled as he lost himself in the sound of the piano. He scraped off some songs he felt would be too difficult to play or that Meena might find too uncomfortable to sing. He let out a breath of relief when he'd narrowed it down to only a handful of songs. His heart beat excitedly, his fingers caressing out the crinkles from the ruined paper as he set it up next to his smart phone in satisfaction.

"I don't think that's the list I gave you this morning."

Johnny's body jumped in surprise, almost knocking everything off the piano, as he flipped his head around to see Moon and Miss Crawly sitting comfortably behind him with their own individual cups of coffee. Miss Crawly's twitching face smiled warmly while Moon looked at Johnny with a small smile and a raised eyebrow. Johnny eyes stared widely back, well aware that he'd been caught doing something embarrassing.

"Mister Moon! I didn't hear you come in. How long 'ave you been there?"

"Long enough to see that you're more dedicated to the duet pieces I gave you yesterday then you are to the solos you got today."

Johnny's wide eyes looked down guiltily as he fingered the edge of the piano bench with his good hand, wishing the bench was old enough so he could pretend he was fiddling with fraying strings instead of obviously avoiding Buster Moon's stare.

"Oh."

Moon quickly jumped off his seat to go and reassure Johnny that he wasn't upset, putting a small paw on the side of his arm.

"Miss Crawly came down earlier saying that you were struggling with you practice but, to my surprise, when I came up you weren't struggling at all." Moon threw his hands up in disbelief. "Johnny, you were amazing!"

Johnny's shoulders raised a little as he listened intently to Moon's motivating words.

"Alright, Johnny, listen. When I thought of you and Meena together I felt inspired. I felt like the pieces fit. I listened to your TV performances again and again trying to pinpoint the songs I knew would emulate the wide range that both of you have." He took a deep breath before asking, "Johnny, do you want to perform with Meena?"

Johnny took a moment to think it over. He thought of all the things that had gone on in the last few days and suddenly one thought stuck out above the rest. He remembered his father's words. "What's all this fame and glory worth if you got no one 't share it with?" He looked up into Moon's face, Johnny's bushy brows furrowing in determination.

"Yea. I think I do."

Moon's large fuzzy ears rose excitedly. He shuffled around in his pocket and handed Johnny a letter with Meena's name scrawled on the front.

"I know you still have your part time job to get to after this but I think you might be the only person that can convince Meena to come back. Give her some words of encouragement."

Johnny took the envelope reverently, glad that the writing on the front was fairly legible although the envelope itself was a little strange. It didn't seem like Buster Moon's style. The envelope was made with black paper with Meena's name scribbled on the front in white ink.

"What's the letter fo'?" he asked curiously.

Moon smiled wide, explaining simply, "It's from Ash. She wanted to send Meena a thank you note for the cake."

Miss Crawly and Moon left Johnny to practice on his own for a while longer. When he was done he gave a quick wave to Rosita and Gunter who were still practicing their own routine. He snatched up his skateboard, rolling out the doors and jumping off the top step. His part time job, the Bluejay, was a high-end restaurant only a couple of blocks away. He skidded and turned just before he reached the restaurant, making his way into the back alley. His boss didn't like the employees coming in through the front. He said it was bad for business.

Johnny hurried through the kitchens as he dodged a couple of waitresses that bustled past, trying to make his way to the changing rooms. He paused when his friend, Lewis, called out to him. Lewis was a large silver-blonde gorilla that stood out from the rest because of his height and his signature gray beanie that he wore even while he was cooking. He had worked at the bluejay as one of the head chefs and had met Johnny when they had both waited in line to audition for Moon's first show. He was the one that had gotten Johnny the part time job in the first place and Johnny couldn't be more grateful.

"Hey, Johnny, boss has a new list of songs for you in his office." Lewis paused, his brown eyes staring, "Whoa, dude, what happened to your hand?"

Johnny smiled uncomfortably.

"I had a bit of 'n accident, th' other day."

Lewis's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You ain't getting into any trouble now, are you?"

Johnny blinked in surprise, taken a little off-guard by Lewis's misunderstanding. Johnny's shoulders relaxed and he smiled encouragingly.

"Naw, jus' somethin' with a girl from th' theatre. I'll tell ya 'bout it later."

Lewis nodded and turned back to his work before his eggs started burning while Johnny hurried off to the locker room. Johnny angled his skateboard precariously in his locker and pulled out his fresh suit and tie. The suit was a little tight around the shoulders but Johnny didn't mind much. With his build, it was always hard to find something that wasn't too small. The shoulders were a little tight but he didn't mind much. Johnny hurried out of the dressing room as he finished pulling up his tie and clumped his big feet straight towards the boss's office. As he slowly opened the door he could see his boss, Carl, clucking around on a large wood desk. It was weird how a chicken could become so menacing when that chicken was your boss. Carl looked up from the papers he was standing on and gave Johnny a quick once over as he closed the door behind him.

"What's with the hand?" he asked, his head twitching sideways.

"Had a bit of 'n accident yesterday." Johnny responded quickly, rubbing his wrist as he tried to feel less self conscious.

The chicken's eyes went wide, his feathers bristling.

"Can you still play, boy, or do I need to call Ricky in today?"

Johnny shook his head so fast he thought it would fall off.

"No, sir, I can still play. Don't worry."

Even if he couldn't play, Johnny would never admit that to Carl. He couldn't ask the chicken to wait a day. Carl was known for being strict with his employees and there were already several waitresses that had been fired for a few simple mistakes. Johnny needed this job if he wanted to keep the garage up and running for when his dad got out. He had a few labor jobs that he was doing at the shop but nothing that could keep him afloat by themselves.

Carl clicked his way across his desk, picking up a small sheet of paper and a folder of sheet music with his left claw, holding it out for Johnny to take.

"This is next week's music list. Make yourself familiar with it."

Johnny nodded and headed out, letting out a big breath of air as soon as he stepped outside of Carl's office. He flipped through the sheets quickly and winced. They were all a lot more advanced then he'd been playing the last couple of weeks. Apparently, his boss thought he was ready to step things up a bit.

Johnny stood in front of the employee doorway, taking a few moments to breathe and calm his anxieties before he pushed the swinging door open and made his way gracefully to the center stage. All of the guests hushed as the lights dimmed and focused on the piano. Johnny felt the welcome, searing heat of performing. His heart pumped in his ears, washing out everything else from his mind. All that was left was him and the music. Music that he had practiced again and again and could play with his eyes shut.

The soul of his performance rang through the air as he played. Every now and again he took the time to address the audience with some brief humor as he rested with a small glass of water and prepared his sheet music for the next song. When the evening came to a close Johnny hurried passed the doors and rushed to the lockers to strip his work clothes and get back into his more comfortable street clothing. He rolled up his sleeve to take a quick look at his watch and grimaced. Eight o'clock was a pretty late time to be making a house call.

"Maybe I should go tomorrow mornin'…" he whispered to himself.

Then he looked up and saw the letter that had fallen out of his pocket, Meena's name written in scrawling white cursive, and remembered how unhappy he had been playing by himself this morning. He snatched up the letter and his skateboard and hurried out.

Johnny stared over at the little yellow house crammed between two larger buildings, having a hard time imagining Meena living in such a small space. He checked his phone again to make sure that he had the right address before flipping his skateboard up into his arms and slowly walking up to the front door. His heart hammered in his chest, though he didn't know why. Maybe it was because of his father's teasing a couple of days ago or maybe it was because of Moon's trust in Johnny and that Moon had told Johnny that he could bring Meena back.

The young gorilla took in a deep breath and straightened up his back as he reached a hand up to knock on the little red door.

AN: So, hey, look at that, we get to meet a few new characters in this chapter! Both Lewis and Carl are actually based on background characters from the movie Sing, if you care to look close enough. Lewis is a gorilla you see a couple of times during auditions and Carl is the well-dressed chicken that you see near the beginning when Buster and Eddie are talking at the restaurant. They appear at random during the movie but I got pretty interested in the beanie-wearing gorilla so I wanted to make him a more important character in this story. I hope ya'll are enjoying the story so far (there will be more Meena x Johnny interaction in the next chapter, I promise) and, again, thanks for all of the reviews and favorites!


	5. Sing with Me

Meena quietly hummed to the music that chimed through her ears as she filled up her small watering can. She watered the plants that sat happily in the kitchen window before making her way to the plants thriving in her bedroom. She tried hard not to think about the argument that had ensued yesterday but, despite her efforts, it kept resurfacing in her mind. Her grandfather had been quite upset about her sudden decision to quit at Moon Theatre.

"How can you just up and leave like that?" He had asked harshly, swinging his cane to point at her across from the dinner table, "That theatre means everything to you! And you would rather give it up for-for what? For a dead end career singing as a soloist in the church choir?"

Meena visibly shrank from her grandfather's words, her shoulders slumping forward and her ears moving forward to hide her flush of embarrassment as she plucked her fork about in her food. Somehow, she wasn't surprised that the pastor had talked to her grandfather. In a little community like theirs, no one kept their mouths shut.

"And that poor gorilla boy! What was his name?"

"Johnny…" Meena mumbled meakly.

"Johnny! You left him standing there like a groom being left at the altar!"

"Dad!" Her mother scolded.

But her grandfather wasn't done. He pushed his opinion about like he usually did with her grandmother sitting on the side, bobbing her head in agreement, and her mother sitting on the other with a scowl on her face. His loud voice was drowned out as Meena's own doubts started echoing in her head, imagining Johnny standing quietly on the stage by himself like a lost little puppy. She remembered how she had walked out of Moon Theatre only to stand for a whole ten minutes out on the front steps, fighting with the part of her that wanted to go back and apologize. Her grandfather's words only made her heart ache more.

She stood up suddenly, interrupting whatever tirade her grandfather was on, harsh tears stinging at her eyes.

"You just don't understand!" She yelled, "Johnny is an _amazing_ singer and I… I just can't compare to that."

Her fingers gripped tightly to her too-big blue hoodie as she tried to fight her emotions. Before anyone could stop her, Meena turned away from their quality family dinner to run to her room at the other end of the house. That night she cried herself to sleep. The next morning Meena slipped out early to cool her head. She enjoyed the warm air and sunshine of the summer day away from her overbearing family and decided to stay out all day, browsing the shops on Main Street and using her meager allowance to buy herself some lunch. When she had finally come home she found her mother putting away the plates from the dinner she had missed, her grandparents already tucked in for the night. Her mother didn't say anything about the night before and Meena was extremely grateful for that.

Meena reached in her pocket to pull out her smartphone, turning the music up as the song "Be Okay" by Ingrid Michaelson came on, matching her currently feelings perfectly. She sang with it quietly, thinking again about Johnny and about the list of duet songs Moon had given them as she watered her plants. She thought back to their first performance, when Moon Theatre had been turned into an open air theatre, and how she had felt when Johnny had performed. The lights, the piano, and his voice had all mixed into something upbeat and exciting. She tried to imagine herself standing on stage next to him and it was a hard image to retain. She was so sure that Johnny would just get frustrated with her and he wouldn't enjoy singing with her at all. There was no way someone that talented would want to sing with her.

Meena was too deep in her thoughts to hear the knock on her bedroom door, allowing her mother to walk in unnoticed.

"Meena!"

Meena jumped at her name, nearly knocking over one of her hanging plants. She quickly steadied it and yanked off her headphones as she turned to look at her disapproving mother.

"Y-yeah?"

Then she froze. Her Mother stood huffing in the doorway while an apologetic looking Johnny stood behind her, barely visible as he looked over her mother's shoulder.

"You have a visitor."

Meena's mother moved to the side and motioned Johnny in to the small, cramped bedroom. He smiled at her and nodded with a quick thanks as he walked in.

"If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen."

Her mother left the door open just a crack, her feet vibrating through the floorboards as she made her way back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. Or to make Johnny a snack. Probably to make Johnny a snack.

Johnny stood awkwardly in Meena's doorway, leaning slightly against her dresser as his brown eyes surveyed the contents of her room. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a girl's room. Her walls were mostly bare with a small scattering of drawings and posters. On her dresser sat a small jewelry box and a record player. He moved away from the dresser as he noticed the large basket of records, filled with new and old bands alike, sitting on the floor. Like the rest of the house, Meena's room sported garish yellow wallpaper with flashes of color here and there from the scattering of plants near her windowsill. Her bedding was a cool blue that matched her hoodie and seemed to be the only color in the room that really matched Meena at all. Johnny's wandering eyes finally made their way back to Meena and with a start he realized how awkward he must look, standing in her doorway for no reason.

Meena pleaded in her panicking mind that Johnny wouldn't notice the large heap of unfolded clothes that sat in her hamper only a few feet away from him.

"Hey, Johnny." She said awkwardly, slowly putting her watering can down, "What's up?"

"Oh, um…" How was he going to start this? "Moon asked me to give you something."

Johnny fished around in his coat pocket for Ash's letter, handing it out for Meena to take. Meena took it in her hoofs with some confusion before motioning to her bed.

"Would you like to sit down?"

Johnny nodded politely, moving Meena's pillow to the side so he could make himself comfortable on her bed. They sat there quietly as Meena flipped the envelope around in her palms, opening the seal slowly to have as few tears as possible. It always bothered her to have a torn up looking envelope. She thought the letter would be from Moon until she saw Ash's scrawling signature at the bottom.

Johnny folded his hands in his lap and looked around the room some more while Meena read to herself. Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him. He leaned over Meena's shoulder just slightly, trying to get a better view of the note. He couldn't see much from over her hoofs but by the snip bits he could read it sounded like a note of encouragement.

Feeling like a creeper, Johnny leaned back into his original position, his big brown eyes browsing Meena's room once again. He looked to the side and spotted a small cactus he hadn't noticed before, sitting quietly on a very small blue night stand. It was a small little thing, round and fuzzy with little pink flowers sticking out of the top.

Meena jumped when she heard Johnny yelp in surprise, holding his right hand out in front of him, covered in cactus barbs. It didn't take her long to piece together what had happened.

"That was probably the stupidest thing I've evah done…" He grumpled.

Meena laughed and hurried to the bathroom to grab a pair of tweezers. Johnny sat across from her, cross-legged on her bed, holding his hand between them as she plucked the barbs out and set them to the side on a paper towel.

"So what was the letter about?" He asked suddenly.

Meena looked up at him, realizing that they were at eye-level with each other. She'd never really looked at Johnny up close before. His shoulders were wide and his brown eyes were warm and child-like underneath his large expressive eyebrows, waiting for her reply. Meena looked back down quickly, suddenly nervous by their close proximity.

"She, um…" Meena hesitated and then scolded herself for being such an awkward teenager. "Ash has been having a hard time lately, I guess. I heard her and Moon talking a few days ago and I was really worried about her so I gave Moon a cake and asked him to deliver it to her for me."

"So that cake you were carryin' around yesterday was for Ash?"

Meena nodded.

"Yeah. So she was thanking me for the cake and told me she's doing alright. I guess she's just struggling with her career right now. Moon has been giving her some advice to help her through it. She said she'll be in town soon so she can take a break for a few weeks and that we should go hang out somewhere before I start looking into colleges."

Johnny waited for her to keep going but apparently that was the end of the letter. His heart sank into his stomach. He had hoped that Ash's letter would somehow contain magical words of encouragement that would convince Meena to come back to Moon theatre. He watched Meena closely as she focused on the small barbs stuck in the soft palm of his hand. He had forgotten, somehow, that she had only just graduated from high school. Johnny thought back to a few years ago when he had graduated, remembering his own feelings of doubt and insecurity. His fingers latched on carefully to her hoof, making her pause in her pursuit on the deadly barbs. She looked up at him as he stared back with renewed determination.

"Come sing with me. Please."

They sat for a moment as Meena processed his statement. Johnny's fingers felt hot against Meena's hoof and they both seemed to feel it as they both looked down, breaking eye contact.

"You _want_ me to sing with you?"

"Yea… Do you want t' sing with _me_?"

There was a long, awkward silence, each of them having different thoughts rolling around in their heads. Johnny's shoulders slumped after a while, taking the silence as a no. He let out a shaky laugh.

"I must be a pretty bad singah if you don't want to sing wi' me."

"No!"

Meena's hoofs were suddenly gripping Johnny's shoulders. Johnny couldn't be more surprised by her exclamation.

"I-I mean… no, that's not it at all. You're an _amazing_ singer."

Her hoofs moved to his elbows as she thought but she didn't let go.

"It's me. I'm the bad singer." She huffed, "Johnny, you wouldn't want to sing with me! I'd be terrible. All I ever do is mess things up. If it's just me then it's fine but what if I drop the stage lights on your head, what if the mike falls in the middle of our performance, or-or…" She looked down at his hands and remembered how he had gotten hurt trying to save her the day before, "Or you ruin your hand trying to save me because I'm so clumsy… I can't do anything right. I'm not even a good singer. You're so talented, Johnny, I could never compete with that."

Johnny's jaw tightened, "Is that why you left Moon Theatre? Because you think 'm more "talented" then you are?"

Meena looked down guiltily.

"Meena, you are amazing. Your singing is inspiring. For the last two days all I've thought about is how I want to sing with you."

Johnny huffed, slightly irritated at Meena for thinking so little of herself.

Meena didn't know what to say to that. His honesty warmed her chest, filling a hole she didn't realize was there. She took a deep breath, looking up at him hesitantly and responding with a simple nod.

Johnny's face broke into a wide grin full of canines.

"But only for this show." She added quickly. "I'm just not cut out for all of this. Deal?"

Johnny nodded but in the back of his mind the cogs started turning. They had two months before the official show. That gave him two months to convince her to stay. His excitement bubbled into a laugh and then he was reaching over, scooping Meena up into a tight bear hug.

Meena's body froze at the contact. She wasn't used getting hugs from anyone outside of her immediate family and she was suddenly aware of how wide his shoulders were and how solid his chest felt.

"Thank you so much, Meena." He whispered, tightening the hug.

Meena hesitated a moment before reaching one hoof up around him, closing her eyes and leaning her face into his shoulder. She should be the one thanking him.

In Johnny's mind, he was screaming. He finally had someone to talk music with and that thought alone set his brain up on a blissful high. A little too late, Johnny realized he'd been holding the hug for an awkwardly long amount of time. He pushed away from her quickly as his face heated in embarrassment. Meena's face echoed that embarrassment. They both shrugged it off with a few half-hearted giggles before Meena showed Johnny to the front door where they stood in the doorway for a few minutes as Johnny plugged Meena's number into his phone (in case she didn't show up). They shyly waved goodbye and Johnny set his skateboard on the ground, getting ready to roll out as Meena shut the door between them.

As soon as the door closed Meena's mother couldn't hold back the urge to open her big trunk.

"Did the handsome theatre boy tell you when he'd be coming back?"

Meena's face heated in embarrassment. "Mom!"

"What? All I'm sayin' is that he's a mighty fine looking boy and a real gentleman, too. I bet even your grandpa wouldn't mind if he came for a visit every once in a while."

Meena groaned as she stalked off to her room, trying to escape her mother's antics as quickly as possible. Her mother was still prattling on about how great Johnny was long after Meena had shut her sunshine yellow door behind her. She leaned against her bedroom door, her big ears catching a little as she slid to the floor with a sigh, praying that Johnny had not stuck around long enough to have heard her mother's embarrassing display.

Unfortunately for Meena, Johnny had heard everything. Embarrassing or not, Johnny was glad he had made a good first impression. When he got home and hung up his jacket he was a little surprised by the strange flowery scent that wafted into his nose from the leather, reminding him of the small coziness of Meena's house that had made him feel more at home then the high, empty ceilings of his father's garage. He wouldn't mind going to her house for a visit every once in a while.

AN: Wow another chapter so soon after the last one! I'm on a roll here!

So the cactus scene is actually based on a real experience I had a while back. A friend of mine gave me a cactus for Christmas and, at the time, I was driving around with my mom doing errands. I didn't want the cactus to fly around everywhere in the back seat so I had my mom hold it. For some odd reason she thought it would be a good idea to randomly grab the cactus to see what it felt like. We had to buy a pair of pliers to get the barbs out of her hand but several days after she was still finding small barbs from my cactus Bob in her gloves and on her coat. He was the gift that kept on giving. XD

Also, after reading Shahrezad1's fanfic "Forks" (it's a really cute Zootopia fanfic, you should go check it out) I realized that I'm not really good at writing "internal voices" so that's something I tried to work on a little in this chapter. Hope y'all enjoy it!


	6. Music Fever

Meena jumped at the sound of her alarm, nearly knocking over Bob the cactus in her pursuit to turn off the loud, obnoxious noise. She sat up groggily and looked at the time on her clock. It read 8:00am. With a yawn Meena turned on her old smart phone, smiling a little as she browsed through the texts she and Johnny had sent back and forth through the night. Most of the texts were about music. They had talked about what genres they liked and some suggestions on music that the other hadn't heard before. Johnny had also sent her his narrowed down list of duets that Meena immediately listened to, smiling as she imagined him crossing out songs on their shared list. It meant that he wasn't lying when he'd told her that he wanted to sing with her. They had stayed up late into the night (probably later then they should have) until Meena had crashed in the middle of a text message.

Meena hurried to get out of bed and get ready for the day. Daydreams of sharing music and practicing with Johnny stuck in her head as she showered, got dressed, and brushed her teeth. Moon wasn't going to be there so the night before Johnny had asked Rosita if she would let them into the theater and practice upstairs while she was rehearsing with Nana Noodleman on stage.

"Where are you off to so early in the morning?"

Her grandpa asked gruffly as Meena hurried around the kitchen, eating a slice of toast covered in peanut butter.

"She's practicing with Johnny this morning at Moon Theatre." Her mother replied, her voice teasing as she mentioned Johnny's name.

"Who's Johnny?" Her grandpa asked.

"It's that gorilla boy we were talking about yesterday."

"Ooooh!" Her grandpa's eyes sparkled as he turned to look at Meena from his seat at the table. "So you're going back to Moon Theatre after all!"

Meena felt a little uncomfortable with her grandpa's look of triumph as he watched her pack her lunch. Just to be on the safe side, Meena made an extra sandwich for Johnny before hurrying to the front door. She paused for one second to breathe away her anxieties, hoof on the doorknob.

"Well, here I go. Bye Mom! Bye Grandpa!" she yelled over her shoulder.

Meena ran as fast as she could to the bus stop, the bus pulling up just as she slowed herself to a steady walk, taking gasping breaths. People filled in slowly in front of her. As soon as she got on, Meena texted Johnny to let him know that she was on her way. It took him a while to reply. Meena jumped excitedly when she finally got a text back.

"Missed my alarm. Will be a little late." His text read.

Meena smiled and shot a thumbs up back. She didn't mind waiting for a little while.

The bus came to a screeching halt a few feet away from the theatre. Meena couldn't be more grateful for the easy access bus system they had here. She had taken drivers ed in high school but it did no good for her when her family didn't even own a car. She smiled brightly at the familiar Llama bus driver before making her way off the bus. Meena stood in front of Moon Theatre for a moment, staring up at the towering red and white building, remembering how it had looked all lit up after the rebuilding. She hurriedly made her way up the steps when she heard a squeal of joy that made her pause.

"Meena! Oh, honey, I'm so glad you're back!"

Rosita ran to meet Meena from the other side of the walkway, giving her a friendly hug. The hug was a little awkward with their vast height difference but it wasn't completely unpleasant. Meena didn't know what was up with everyone in giving her hugs lately but if hugs were always like this then she didn't mind the idea of getting more of them. Rosita slowly pulled away to look Meena in the eyes, her pink piggy face stricken with motherly worry.

"Are you okay? You left so suddenly last time and we were all so worried about you…"

Rosita's words made Meena feel both happy and guilty at the same time. Meena was about to speak up when Nana Noodleman's fancy car rode up to the curb, her fancy butler (or at least Meena assumed he was her butler) coming around the side to walk Nana out like a pureblood lady. Nana smiled kindly towards Rosita.

"Rosy, darling. I'm glad to see that you were able to arrive on time."

Rosita replied awkwardly, her feet shifting as she stumbled over her words.

"Oh, yes, um, Norman took the kids to school for me today since it's his day off."

It seemed like they had had this kind of conversation before.

Nana nodded in understanding before turning a pair of cool eyes towards Meena. She sniffed, looking Meena up and down as she straightened out the heavy wool on her head.

"And you are Meena, correct?"

Meena shied away behind her ears, lowering her eyes towards the ground.

"Yes?"

"Well don't say it like it's a question. Speak up girl! Look at people while you are speaking!"

Meena quickly looked up as she was instructed and nodded her head.

"Yes, Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am." She replied instinctively.

Before Meena could be ordered around any further, Rosita came to the rescue, hurrying to usher Nana towards the entrance, unlocking the front and letting them all inside. Meena hurried upstairs to the piano room to wait for Johnny while Rosita and Nana moved to practice on stage. Even from upstairs Meena could hear Nana's voice vibrating off the walls as she and Rosita went back and forth on various duet ideas. Rosita's voice, usually loud enough to be heard over several screaming piglets, sounded small and meek when singing with Nana Noodleman. After meeting the sheep herself, Meena could see why Rosita had had some trepidation about singing with _the_ Nana Noodleman. Nana had an overbearing presence.

As Meena waited she sat quietly on the piano bench and looked about the room. The piano room still doubled as Miss Crawly's office and was repainted after the destruction with a light rosy color, flowers filling the corners. Meena turned towards the piano and opened it to see the keys, running a hoof along it lightly. The keys, some of them inches apart from one another, reminded her of when Johnny had grabbed her hand the night before. His hands were so large and his fingers were so long it was no wonder he could play the piano so well.

She scooted herself over to the middle of the piano bench and lifted her clumsy hoofs to play the only tune she knew; Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. Meena giggled a little at the light hearted tune only pausing to look up as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs to the piano room. She smiled as she watched Johnny's figure through the glass of the doorway. His body teetered unsteadily until he reached the doorknob, the door's blinds swinging as he walked into the room, smiling tiredly down at Meena.

Already, Meena could tell that something was wrong.

"Hey, Johnny. Are you okay?"

Johnny bobbed his head as he moved to sit next to her, pulling a blue folder of sheet music out from under his arm.

"Yea, yea, 'm fine." He mumbled, setting the sheets of paper out carefully on the front of the piano.

Meena stared at him for a while longer as he spread some of the papers out, flipping them here and there and squinting at them with large frustrated eyebrows.

"Are you sure?" She asked again, "You don't seem so well."

"'M just tired. I woke up with a really bad headache, tha's all."

Meena's heart pinched guiltily as she wondered whether the headache and tiredness had come from the two of them texting for so long. Her ears moved to cover her face as she leaned down to look at the piano keys again. Maybe she had been too excited about singing with Johnny. She didn't want her over eagerness to affect his health. That's when she felt a warm hand on hers. She looked down, blinking as she looked up at Johnny who was smiling easily with half-lidded chocolate brown eyes.

"'S not your faul', Meena. 'M serious. Don' worry 'bout it."

Meena smiled back at him and nodded. They both turned back to the sheet music, Meena watching as Johnny flipped through the sheets to try and get it all organized. While texting last night they had narrowed it down to five songs that they both liked. Now it was time for them to figure out how well they could hit the notes and whether or not the songs would be easy for Johnny to play.

Johnny tried his best to play the notes that focused in and out in front of him, his headache blurring his vision. He squinted and practiced a few lines while Meena waited patiently for him to warm up and get comfortable. Johnny tried really hard to get all the keys right but it wasn't working. His wounded hand sent shots of pain up to his elbow, making him occasionally hit the notes two at the time.

He played for a bit as Meena tried to sing her parts but it was hard for her to follow along when he kept getting the notes wrong. The more he messed up the more frustrated he became. It had been so easy to play the notes the morning before but, now, trying to play anything was a struggle.

Meena anxiously put her hoof on Johnny's sleeve.

"I know you just said not to worry but, Johnny, you really don't seem like yourself today."

Johnny turned to look at Meena, falling towards her as he struggled to steady himself. Meena grabbed his shoulders as he leaned against her. He felt warm, warmer then Meena had expected. At first Meena was sure that she was just suddenly aware of Johnny's presence, of a boy leaning against a girl in a room by themselves, and that's why his face against her sleeve felt so hot but after a few seconds she noticed his breathing coming out in heavy gasps. She reached a hoof up to his face.

"Johnny, you have a fever!" she exclaimed, realization dawning.

Johnny didn't respond, only leaning into her more with his face drawn up in pain. Her shoulder felt really comfortable. Much to Johnny's dismay, Meena moved him off of her, pulling him down to lay him against the bench as her mind sped with worry.

"W-wait here a second. I'm gonna go tell Rosita real fast and we'll see what we can do."

Johnny nodded, curling up his arms around his pounding head as he leaned into the hard cushioning of the piano bench.

Meena's feet reverberated off the theatre walls as she ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time, her feet nearly coming out from under her as she reached the last step. Both Rosita and Nana had stopped to look in her direction long before she had reached visibility of the stage.

"Rosita! Johnny has a fever- like, a _really bad fever_ \- and I don't know what to do!"

Meena knew that her voice sounded desperate and inexperienced but in that moment, she didn't care. Rosita hurried passed Meena as soon as Meena had spoken Johnny's name, with Meena close behind her. Nana took her time following them, waiting patiently in her royal purple silk at the bottom of the stairwell.

Johnny sat back up from his makeshift bench bed as soon as he heard Rosita and Meena enter the room.

"'M fine, really…" he protested sullenly.

Rosita ignored his protest, kneeling on the bench next to Johnny so she could reach her hand up and feel his face. She put one hoof on his forehead and one hoof on her own, her piggy nose scrunched up with concentration. She moved her piggy hoofs to hold Johnny's clenched hands, looking up at him.

"Johnny, are you sure you're okay?" she asked sweetly, "You haven't been feeling tired lately or stressed or in pain or anything like that?"

Johnny was silent for a moment, looking at Rosita's pleading hazel eyes before turning away guiltily.

"'M hand hurts…" he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper, "'nd I've been worried 'bout the shop… 'nd 'bout Dad…"

Rosita nodded knowingly before pulling on his hands to take a look. She frowned at the dirty bandage that covered his palm, pulling the wrapping off slowly as Meena hovered in the doorway. The wound was red and tender around the edges and with every touch Johnny winced, his bushy brows cornered down unhappily.

"Johnny, why did you let it get this infected?" Rosita scolded sadly.

Johnny shook his head, not sure of it himself. Rosita motioned for Meena to come over.

"We'll have to take him home. Right now, he needs medicine and rest. I'll drop you both off at the garage and then I'll go to the doctor's office to see if I can get him anything for the infection."

Meena nodded, moving to help Johnny up while Rosita walked downstairs to explain the situation to Nana. Johnny leaned heavily against Meena's side with his arm around her shoulder. He could smell the earthy, flowery scent of her home from her jacket, the memory of her house easing him into a state of comfort. Meena was gentle and slow as she carried him. Where it would be a strain for others to carry a gorilla, carrying Johnny didn't seem to bother Meena at all.

Rosita ushered them both into the back seat of her husband's car. She opened the passenger seat for Nana who dusted the seat off before sliding in with her usual regal poise. Meena raised a questioning eyebrow in Nana's direction but said nothing. She didn't want to be rude but in her mind she was questioning why Nana was coming with them. Then she remembered how Nana was always being driven around by her butler in that fancy car of hers. Apparently, Nana couldn't just call a cab and roll with it.

Johnny rested on Meena's shoulder all through the drive. He was grateful for her height because it made it easier for him to lean on her. Her shoulder felt warm against his face and he wasn't sure if it was because of his fever or because they had to sit so close in the backseat of the small car. Either way, he felt more comfortable against her side then he had anywhere else in the last few days.

AN: HEEEEYYYYY would you look at that. Another update. C: You can thank Shahrezad1 for all of the drive and inspiration. A while back I'd mentioned how sad I was that I couldn't find any Meena/Johnny amvs so she went ahead and made me a beautiful amv that you can find a link to on my profile

Seriously, go check it out! In other news, since I'm one of the very few Meena/Johnny shippers I've realized that they don't really have a ship name yet. The best ones I've come up with is Meenny or Jeena but they both sound like actual names soooo yeah. XD I'm not too attached to them. Does anyone have any ideas? Also, special thanks and shout out the guest reviewer who thanked me for posting my last chapter (your comment made my day- I was having a hard time that day so thank YOU) and for mentioning the split second where someone holds up a picture of Meena in a graduation gown. Thanks for pointing that out! I'd never noticed that before!

Lastly, I've also been drawing quite a bit of fanart for my lovely couple here including a quick sketch of a scene from my last chapter. If you get the chance (and if you love Johnny/Meena as much as I do) please go check them out! That link is also on my profile.

(Pssst- has anyone noticed how I updated the story with a story cover? You're welcome. C: )


	7. A Scent of Flowers

Meena leaned forward in the small car, feeling slightly claustrophobic. She didn't mind being Johnny's shoulder to lean on, especially with him being so sick, but she hated being in such a small, enclosed space. The short drive to Johnny's house felt like forever. Meena had never been to Johnny's home so she was a little surprised when they drove up in front of a gas station with a car shop in the back. Through the window of the station, Meena could see a dour looking hippo sitting behind the cash register, glowering at the morning news. He didn't seem too concerned over his lack of customers.

Nana petitioned to wait in the car as Meena and Rosita helped Johnny to the door of the garage. Rosita pulled her keys out of her front pocket and flipped over to the spare key she'd received from Johnny's father. The heavy door opened to a garage half filled with a pair of cars. There was a living room area separated on one side with rows of snack machines leaning against the wall. Work tools, bags of chips, and dirty dishes were scattered about everywhere. It smelled like oil and rust. Rosita gasped as she entered behind them.

"Oh my goodness, Johnny, this place is a mess!"

She glared at the pathetic looking boy, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You are in **so** much trouble."

Johnny shrugged pitifully as Rosita grumbled, picking up a mixture of clothes and dishes off the floor. She motioned Meena to follow her and quickly cleared off a spot on the couch where Johnny could lay down.

"Why are we laying him on the couch instead of on his bed?" Meena asked curiously, helping Johnny take off his leather jacket. Underneath he wore a short sleeved green shirt with dark blue stripes. The short sleeves surprised Meena. She wasn't used to seeing him without his long green shirt or his long sleeved jacket.

"I don't think either of us would be able to get him up there." Rosita responded mildly, waving a hand towards the ceiling.

Meena turned to look where Rosita had directed. A single metal ladder went up the side of the wall towards a railing that stretched overhead, jutting out on top of the gas station portion of the building. From the little she could see there seemed to be some sort of living space up there. Meena agreed with Rosita. There was no way the two of them would be able to get Johnny up that ladder.

"The bathroom's up there, too. Do you mind going up and getting Johnny some ibuprofen while I clean up this mess?"

Meena nodded. She stared up at the ladder nervously before ascending, hoping her clumsy feet wouldn't slip out from under her. She took the steps slowly, one by one, using her trunk to keep steady whenever she felt that she was teetering. When she got up there she noticed that the loft was separated into two bedrooms with a bathroom at the far end. She gripped the railing, willing herself not to look down. It reminded her of the first few times she had worked for Moon as a stagehand and the memory did not help her feel any less scared of the height. The first bedroom door was closed and had a strange dent in the top as if someone had punched it by accident while the second bedroom door hung open slightly, inviting her in. Meena's curiosity got the better of her and she nervously peaked through the crack, careful not to let the door creak as she stuck her head in.

A large bed with an army green comforter and matching pillow set sat in the corner surrounded by posters of various pop and rock artists. The posters seemed to line every inch of the room, pinned on top of one another and hanging strangely from the ceiling. There were clothes and dishes all over the floor, reminding Meena of the mess downstairs, making a halo around the black desk and dresser that completed the sparse furnishings of Johnny's room. The majority of the posters were prints from classic rock and pop artists. Meena only recognized a few of them but the fact that Johnny owned so many intrigued her. She didn't realize that Johnny loved music so much.

Feeling a little creepy for peeking into Johnny's room without permission, Meena hurried out and made her way to the bathroom where she quickly searched for the ibuprofen. She descended the ladder as slowly as she could, making a triumphant "humph" from her trunk when she finally got down.

Meena turned and looked around curiously, finding that Rosita was nowhere in sight. She moved instead to where Johnny was laid out on the couch. He was already drowsy when she prompted him to sit up, handing him a glass of water and the small ibuprofen. He downed the medicine so he could quickly lay back down. It didn't take him long to fall asleep. Meena walked around the building as she tried to think of what she should do while Rosita was gone and Johnny was sleeping. She assumed that Rosita had left to get Johnny's medicine but she was wishing Rosita had given her some kind of warning. Meena's house was on the opposite side of town and she couldn't remember if the bus had a station near hear or not.

She browsed the garage section of the house curiously, tasting the grit of the air on her tongue. Tools were scattered about on Johnny's work table but the drawers themselves were fairly organized which surprised her. Her first impression had been that Johnny was a hopeless slob but now she was beginning to see otherwise. When she walked back into the living room she realized that Rosita had indeed cleaned quite a bit before she had left. The trash had been thrown away and the dishes that had been scattered about were put in the sink, giving Johnny's home the bare image of tidiness. When Meena looked deeply, though, she realized that the place was still messy. Meena pulled off her jacket, setting it down on the edge of the couch where Johnny's jacket lay, and got to work.

She managed to find some cleaning supplies under Johnny's sink and started organizing, spraying, and wiping down as many surfaces as she could. The last thing Meena did was the dishes. She paused to look at a small plate as she washed, turning it about in front of her with her trunk. It had a fancy blue design on it and the craftsmanship was surprisingly delicate. She knew right away that it was china and she was surprised to know that Johnny, all gruff and boyish, owned something so dainty.

Meena put all the dishes away (which took a while because she wasn't sure which pieces went where) and walked back to where Johnny was sleeping as she dried her hands. He looked oddly comfortable on the small red couch. Meena set the rag down on the coffee table and sat on the floor in front of him, her arms crossed against the cushions as she leaned her head forward. She stared at him tiredly for a short while before reaching her trunk out, brushing it over the top of his head. Thankfully, his forehead wasn't nearly as warm as it had been back in the practice room. Little silver hairs on the top of his head shook as she brushed her trunk against them. She had never noticed the silver in his hair before but now that she could see it she found herself transfixed. She had seen the silver on other gorilla's before but had never really wondered about it until now. Her concentration was broken as she heard the startling jingle of keys against the door knob.

Rosita walked in and looked up to see Meena busily putting away some last minute pots and pans. Meena hid her flush of embarrassment behind her ears, wondering why she'd ever thought that playing with Johnny's hair had been a good idea.

"Oh wow, Meena, it looks wonderful in here." Rosita cheeped, surprised by the cleanliness. "You didn't need to do all this, you know."

Meena shrugged, pleased with herself and with Rosita's reaction, "It's alright. I was bored anyways."

Rosita walked to where Johnny was sleeping and set a paper bag down on the coffee table. She stared at him fondly, smoothing his hair down as she spoke.

"Johnny must be really struggling if he let things get this bad." She huffed.

"Is he usually pretty tidy?"

Rosita laughed, "Well, not _tidy_ exactly but _tidier_. Boys are never really that clean. He likes to keep things organized, though, and he usually takes care of himself. I think Johnny's dad going to prison has taken a toll on him."

Meena nearly dropped the pan she was holding.

"His dad's in prison?"

Rosita looked at her in surprise. "Didn't you know? It was all over the news when we were doing the first show at Moon's Theatre."

"I don't watch tv very much." Meena replied as if not watching tv answered for everything.

Rosita smiled sweetly and made her way to where Meena was standing with her hoofs gripping the metal pan anxiously. Rosita patted Meena's elbow, reassuring her.

"It's nothing you should worry yourself over, Meena."

Meena nodded sadly. "I just wish I had known. What about his mom?"

Rosita shook her head, "I don't know. He doesn't really talk about it much."

A heavy silence fell on the room as Meena focused on the new information. She didn't realize that Johnny had been going through so much and for some odd reason she felt that she should've known, somehow. It left her feeling vulnerable and ashamed. The other day he had seemed so upbeat and happy. She took a deep breath, moving to put the last pan away so she would have some excuse to get out from under the heavy silence.

"So, um, what happened to Nana? Wasn't she with you earlier?"

Rosita seemed startled by the change in conversation.

"I dropped her off after we went to the doctor's office." She paused, shaking her head, "I'm not sure if you noticed but I have a hard time being around her."

Of course Meena had noticed. Everyone had noticed. She didn't mention that, though.

"I've been meaning to ask her why she wants to do a duet with me but whenever I think of it I'm too scared of what she might say. She's quite odd."

Meena and Rosita made their way back to the couch. Meena sat down on the floor while Rosita made herself comfortable on the coffee table, brushing her hand over Johnny's hairy arm affectionately.

"Odd how?"

Rosita shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it. I feel like she's forcing herself to be around me. For instance, when we got to the doctor's office I had planned on leaving her in the car, like before, but she insisted on coming with me saying, "Don't spare me on the details, Rosy. Wherever you go I will go even if it is to this dismal excuse for a doctor's office." Then she paid for Johnny's medicine and the doctor visit and said it was to "take care of her theatre family." Don't get me wrong, I appreciate her kindness, I just feel that her way of speaking is a little strange."

"That is a little strange."

Rosita shook her head as if shaking the memory, "It's pointless for me to worry about it, though. I need to call Johnny's dad and tell him what's been happening. Knowing Johnny, he probably hasn't confided in his dad at all."

Rosita hopped off the coffee table and headed back toward the door.

"And since I'm here I might as well go and buy Johnny some groceries. All I could find in this house was pizza and chips and I would not call that a healthy diet. Would you mind watching him, Meena, until I get back?" She pulled her purse up around her shoulder, "I promise I'll drop you off at your house as soon as I'm done."

Meena smiled and nodded. She watched as Rosita walked back out the front door, locking it behind her. The engine roared in the distance and soon enough Meena was back to being alone in the large, quiet garage with only Johnny's occasional snores to accompany her. She leaned back against the bottom of the couch, the hairs from Johnny's arm tickling the back of her neck. With nothing else to do, Meena resorted to her usual retreat, pulling out her smart phone and drowning out the silence with her music. Her blue eyes turned to look up at the high ceiling. Johnny's house felt nothing like hers. It was a large space with more than enough room for a person her size. The longer she was here the more she liked it.

She turned so she was facing Johnny, resting her head on the couch. She thought about how Rosita had treated him, patting him affectionately like a mother. Curiously, Meena's hoof reached to where his arm was, smoothing down his coarse hair. It wasn't long before the comfort of Johnny's home and the music in her ears lulled her to sleep.

A few hours later, Johnny stirred, his mouth parched. His arm felt heavy and for a moment he felt a twinge of nostalgia.

"Dad?" he mumbled.

He blinked his eyes open only to turn and see a blob of gray. As his eyes focused he realized it wasn't his Father but that Meena had fallen asleep next to him, one hoof on top of his arm. He slowly sat up, moving her hoof as carefully he could, hoping he wouldn't wake her. He sighed and relaxed against the couch, wondering how he could've mistaken Meena for his Dad in the first place. He leaned his face against his hand, staring down at the sleeping elephant, wondering why she looked so different. It took him a while to realize it was because she wasn't wearing her signature jacket.

Her T-shirt was plain but it shaped her elegantly, a baby blue exercise shirt that seemed consistent with her usual choice in clothing. It was in that moment that Johnny realized that Meena was actually quite an attractive elephant. Her eyelashes were longer than most girls' and she had a secretly feminine style. He recalled the plants and flowers sprouting all about her home, the colors she chose as a staple of her personality (baby blue with touches of pink), and he even remembered how she had dressed in a cute, violet colored dress during their first live performance.

Johnny stood up groggily, afraid that he would wake Meena just by staring at her, and tried to ignore the dull ache that still remained from his fever. He fetched himself a glass of water from the kitchen before returning, leaning against the couch's arm as he flipped on his phone. Messages berated him from the lock screen and with an accelerated heartbeat Johnny suddenly remembered he had silenced his phone earlier so he could practice with Meena without distraction. He looked at the clock, wondering how long he had been asleep. It was late in the day, later then he had anticipated. He should've been at the restaurant by now, playing beautiful piano music to a crowd of awe struck listeners. He checked the messages one by one. There were several missed calls but no voicemails. Johnny wasn't surprised- that chicken of a boss hated leaving voicemails. Then, at the end of it all, there was a single text written off to Johnny like a death sentence.

 _Don't bother coming to work. You're fired._

Johnny slowly slid his water cup onto a green coaster on the table. His admiring thoughts for Meena had disappeared and had been replaced with a concave hollowness. His phone clacked and skidded against the concrete floor, stopping only after it hit the wall. Tears burned the back of his eyes. All his stress had built up into a fevered anger as he yelled at the empty air, falling to the ground, deftly smacking his fist against a cotton rug. There was a long moment of silence before Johnny twitched in surprise at Meena's sudden cool touch.

She knelt next to him, her blue eyes turning to him in concern.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, her voice barely projecting over the ringing in his ears.

Johnny's lips tightened into a thin line before he looked over to where his phone had landed, as if the look alone would answer her question. Meena stood, picking up the phone and walking back slowly as she flipped through the messages.

"Is this your part time job?" she asked.

Johnny nodded stiffly in response. He didn't trust himself enough to speak.

Meena knelt in front of him, putting his phone on the floor between them like a peace offering, waiting for him to speak. Johnny stared at the small crack that had appeared in the corner of the screen, a lump forming in his throat.

"I don't know what to do anymore." He sobbed finally, his shoulders caving in around him.

Meena looked at him with sad, sympathetic eyes. She didn't understand what was going on. Why was he crying? Why was he living in such a big home all by himself? Why did he look so lonely? Meena leaned forward, pulling her arms around him gently and resting her head on his shoulder, saying the only comforting thing she could think to say.

"I'm sorry."

Johnny enveloped himself in her comfort. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, his fingers pulling at her shirt as he shook from silent, choked sobs. They only parted when Rosita got back, arms clinging to bags of groceries. She took in the scene for only a heartbeat before dropping the food to hurry to Johnny's side, crying sympathetic tears of her own.

After the bout of crying had ended Johnny breathed in a calming breath filled with the scent of flowers. Rosita and Meena dutifully filled his fridge with food before declaring that it was time for them to leave.

"Now, Johnny, you take care of yourself. Get some rest and make sure to take your medicine." Rosita put one concerned trotter on his arm, stalling in the doorway.

"I will, Rosita. Thanks." He smiled, reassuring her.

Rosita nodded, leaving the entryway to go and start up the car. Meena hovered for a few moments, her eyebrows drawn up as she hesitated to think of what to say. Johnny reached out and grabbed her wrist, squeezing her hoof gratefully.

"Thanks." He whispered, low enough for only the two of them to hear.

Meena responded with a shy smile that softened her eyes and crinkled up the freckles on her face. She squeezed his hand back and turned away to get into the passenger seat of Rosita's car. Johnny watched them as they drove away, his head pounding to the sound of his suddenly accelerated heartbeat. Meena had beautiful freckles. Her rosy scent lingered in his home from the jacket she had forgotten to take with her and Johnny realized with a start that he rather liked the smell and that he was hesitant to tell Meena that she had forgotten anything at all.

AN: Thank you everyone for waiting so patiently for this chapter! I'm sorry that it took me so long to write. I needed to prepare for the ACTs so I can get ready for school but it was an unexpectedly anxious and frustrating exchange that caused me to have a stress induced fever/cold not unlike Johnny's, ironically. It's hard to take the ACTs when I've been out of school for a good five years. Gah, I feel so old!

On another note, I wanted everyone to know that I've edited a few things in chapter five. I changed "pliers" to "tweezers", "before I start school again" to "before I start looking into colleges", and "that she was still a high school kid" to "that she had only just graduated from high school." I've also decided that Meena's official age in the story is eighteen and Johnny's is twenty three.

A special thanks to Yeahjusttrash and Shahrezad1 for pointing out all my inconsistencies! And thank you to everyone who is following and reading my story. I appreciate you all and I'm grateful that there are others that like this pairing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	8. Come With Me

Johnny shifted uncomfortably in his metal chair, pointedly avoiding his father's disapproving gaze. He fingered the edge of the fresh bandage on his left hand and wished he could be anywhere else. After the day Johnny had collapsed, Rosita had visited him frequently. He briefly remembered her saying that she had called his father about the situation but Johnny didn't realize that his father would be so upset by it. His father's expression was the same expression he had worn the day Johnny had told him that he wanted to be a singer instead of a gang member.

"Whut were ya thinking?" his dad demanded. "I knew you were workin' the two jobs but you nevah told me you were workin' so many hours. Are you tryin' t' get yourself killed?"

Johnny looked at his father and then back at his tennis shoes.

"Sorry, Dad." He mumbled.

Johnny's father sighed, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. They sat quietly across from one another for a long while as they both tried to understand their emotions. Eventually, Johnny looked up. His father watched him with a strange sort of determination. Johnny knew that look. His father had made a decision.

"Sell the garage, Johnny."

Johnny's mouth flapped like a fish. He struggled to overcome his surprise as his father continued.

"It ain't worth it anymo'. I know you've been tryin' to keep it for me n' the boys but you were goin' to run out sometime. You can't keep that place goin' by yourself. 'N I'm worried about ya, Johnny. Don't you get that?"

Johnny's lips tightened as he tried to think of a way to combat his father's words. He understood that his father was worried about him but sell the garage? That was the last thing Johnny wanted to do! He lowered his eyes and shook his head, unsure of what to say.

"Why are ya even holdin' onto the place, Johnny? There's nothin' there for ya." His father asked with some frustration in his voice.

Johnny fiddled with his bandage some more as he tried to find his words.

"'M scared of lettin' it go." He mumbled into the receiver, irritated with how pathetic his voice sounded. "I know that there's nothin' there 'n I know that not all the memories we had there were good but I grew up in that garage. It's my home."

There was silence on the other line. Johnny's father let out a long sigh.

"A'right. So what do you plan on doin' about it?"

Johnny looked up in surprise. His father stared back with an open expression. It was a sign that his father was willing to listen.

"Honestly, Dad, I don' know whut to do." Johnny confessed.

His father nodded and leaned back in his chair, scratching at the top of his scraggly head. His father's hair had grown some since he'd been put into prison and it left him looking a little on the messy side. Johnny wasn't used to seeing his dad so relaxed and untrimmed.

"Well, this is a first for ya, living out on your own. Obviously, you need a job but things aren't always that easy. 'Ave you thought 'bout playin' on the street some? Could earn you a bit of cash for a while. If you're so determined to keep the garage you should probably look into gettin' a roommate, too."

"Whut? A roommate? But Dad, they'd have to sleep in your room."

His dad shrugged.

"Well, yeah, they might as well. I ain't usin' it right now anyway."

Johnny was still a little uncomfortable with the idea of someone else using his father's bedroom but he admitted that getting a roommate was a good idea. They discussed a few more options before it was time for Johnny to leave. At the loss of his job Johnny decided it would be best to take the bus, to save on gas, which meant he needed to leave early. He and his dad said their goodbyes and Johnny hurried to get to the bus station on time. He walked a couple of blocks until he spotted the familiar clear bus pavilion. His eyes looked up at the sky briefly as he quickly hid under the bus stop's cover. The sky was dark, threatening rain.

Johnny sat on the graffitied bench and flipped on his phone, plugging in his earphones as he waited. His thoughts traced back to his dad and how unexpected his father's words had been as his music distanced him from the other waiting passengers. The garage meant a lot to both of them. He was surprised his father would tell him to sell it. He was also surprised by his father's advice. They'd never talked like that before. After their conversation, Johnny's situation started to seem a little less hopeless.

The bus came to a screeching halt in front of him. He waited in line as people milled in, trying to find seats between all of the other passengers. Johnny squished towards the back of the bus so he could have more breathing room, shadows of buildings hovering passed as the noise of the bus's wheels squeaked forward. Johnny made a face at a couple of teenage llamas making out two rows in front of him, turning up his music so he couldn't hear the sounds of their smacking lips. "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble blasted his ears as he mouthed the words, trying really hard to ignore the two teenagers.

Instead, strangely, they got his mind thinking about Meena. She seemed to be around their age. His imagination wandered and he wondered what it would like to kiss Meena. He couldn't imagine it would be easy with her trunk in the way but he didn't dislike the idea. Johnny shooed away the thoughts as he watched a familiar gray head pop up below the bus's steps at the next station. Meena's clothes looked a little different compared to usual, a dark blue unzipped jacket with dark jeans and a black t-shirt, but she was still easy to recognize. It didn't take her long to spot him, a smile lighting up her eyes. Johnny was grateful that he had chosen to sit in the back. It gave both of them plenty of room as Meena came up and sat next to him.

"Hey, Johnny."

"Hey."

"Where are you headed?"

He shrugged. "Just back to th' garage."

"I see. How're you doing?"

"Good. Real good. No more fever. 'M hand's gettin' better." He waved his bandaged hand to prove his statement.

"That's good." Meena flashed him a relieved smile.

Johnny nodded, twirling his headphones up into a wrapped circle around his fingers as he tried to think of what to talk about. Only a few days ago he'd been dying from sickness, leaning against Meena's shoulder in Rosita's back seat like it was nothing. He couldn't understand why he suddenly felt so uncomfortable. His eyes moved down to Meena's hooves as they fidgeted against the side of a giant square cake tin.

"Who's the cake for?"

Meena looked down, her eyes blinking quickly like she had forgotten she was holding anything. Which she had. They were both feeling a little awkward.

"It's cupcakes."

Johnny raised one fuzzy eyebrow in question.

"One time in high school I sold cupcakes at a church charity auction." Meena explaind, "Some of the church folks really liked them so l get orders every now and again."

"Do ya get paid fo' it?"

"Oh, yeah. It's a nice little side job. I've been using it to save up for college."

Johnny nodded slowly again as another awkward pause filled the space between them. Inside, he was screaming at himself, trying to think of something, anything, to talk about. Meanwhile, Meena looked back and forth between Johnny and the cupcakes, trying to get up the courage to say something daring- or at least daring for someone with social anxiety. They both ranted at themselves internally until Meena, very suddenly, turned to look at Johnny.

"I'm dropping them off four stops from here. Would you like to come with me? It's not too far from your place."

Johnny blinked a few times as his brain processed her question. He reached his right hand up to rub the back of his neck, forcing himself to look away from Meena's big blue eyes. Her eyes were the same color as the jacket that still sat on the edge of his couch.

"Um… yeah. Sure. I don' got anythin' better to do."

Johnny ignored the part of his brain that was telling him that he still had two cars in the garage that he needed to work on. He justified it by telling himself that this was an opportunity to look at other money earning options. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from Meena's little side business.

They smiled at each other as the awkwardness slowly started to dissolve the more they talked. They chatted about nonsense things for a while until it turned into an actual conversation. The two of them got into a heated debate comparing Elton John and Freddie Mercury and their influence in the music industry.

"You must really like Elton John." Meena mused, "Wasn't the song you chose for the contest one of his songs?"

"Yeah n' I was worried I wouldn' get it right but it turned out pretty good. He's up there in m' favorites along with Bowie 'n Billy Joel."

Meena hummed in agreement. They bounced their conversation between old and modern artists until the bus got to their stop. The bus driver, a white sheep with dramatically sheared wool, nodded slightly to both of them as they got off. A cool, humid breeze blew through them as they walked side by side down the cracked cement sidewalk.

"So who are we goin' to see?" Johnny asked curiously.

"The Johnsons. They're an older couple from my church. Their grandson moved back a few months ago, around the time of the singing competition, and they want to have a welcome home party tomorrow."

"Wow. It's a bit late for 'em to be havin' a welcome home party." Johnny laughed.

Meena shrugged and explained simply, "They're kind of old fashioned."

"Whut do ya mean?"

"You'll see when we get there."

The two of them stopped in front of a giant yellow house with fancy white trim. Delicate lawn ornaments scattered on the edge of the garden that surrounded the porch. The garden was full with springing flowers and bushes trimmed to perfection. Even the grass looked perfect. Johnny turned about in a slow circle, nodding in appreciation as Meena ringed the doorbell. A pair of feet pounded down the stairs on the other side of the door. The door slowly pushed open, revealing a familiar silver-furred gorilla.

"Lewis?" Johnny asked, looking the gorilla up and down in shock. "What are you doin' here?"

Lewis had a similar expression of surprise as he stared from Johnny to Meena and back to Johnny again.

"What am _I_ doing here? Dude, what are _you_ doing here? I live here."

Lewis turned his head around the corner to yell to his grandparents down the hallway.

"Gran, your cupcakes are here!"

"No need to yell, I can hear you just fine!" his grandmother yelled back.

Lewis ushered them both in, closing the door and clapping Johnny on the back as they headed towards a living room furnished with lavish, vintage designed couches and delicately painted knick knacks.

"Good to see ya, Johnny."

"Yeah, you too."

Meena tried to suppress a smile as she watched Johnny look about the house, his eyes wide and his mouth slack. The place was huge.

Meena handed her cupcakes over to a tall, graying gorilla that was covered head to toe in cleaning gear. The gorilla thanked Meena and then hurried off, busy getting ready for the big party. Meena could see why she was busy. Meena liked large spaces but she couldn't imagine what it was like cleaning a house that was so big. She turned to look at Johnny and Lewis as Johnny made himself comfortable on one of the vintage chairs. He looked so peculiar with his leather jacket and green shirt sitting back in the fancy cream colored cushions.

"So how do you two know each other?" she asked.

"We used t' be coworkers." Johnny replied.

Lewis turned to look at Johnny as he munched on some crackers that Gran had set out on the coffee table in front of them. "Speaking of work, what happened to you Johnny? You were super late and then the boss came in saying you were fired."

Johnny explained in length everything that had happened the last few weeks including his visit with his dad and how his dad had suggested playing on the street and getting a roommate.

"So that's kinda where 'm at righ' now." He finished with a sigh. "I can hold up with m' savin's for a while but I don' know how long it'll last."

Meena was grateful she had asked Johnny to come with her. There was so much she didn't know and now she was a little more aware of some of Johnny's struggles. The three of them talked for a while until it started getting late. Lewis forced Johnny to give him his contact information before they left.

"I might call you about the whole roommate thing." Lewis decided, "I moved here wanting to start my own business and I don't plan on staying with my grandparents the whole time. I might be interested in moving in with you."

Johnny looked surprised, "Your own business?"

Lewis smiled wistfully. "I want to open up my own restaurant. I went off to France a while back for culinary school. When we met at the singing tryouts I was hoping to enter the competition so I could save up some money to open my business." He shrugged. "Obviously, that didn't work out so I started saving up the old fashioned way. Carl may be the worst boss ever but at least the pay is good."

Meena and Johnny waved goodbye, watching Lewis in his grandparent's lighted house as he went back inside.

"So how long have you known the Johnsons?" Johnny asked, turning to Meena as they walked down the street, away from the ritzy neighborhood.

Meena shrugged. "We've been in the same church since I was little. Lewis and I used to go to the same Sunday School but he's a few years older than me so we were never really close. He moved to France when I started high school."

Meena paused and blinked as a drop of rain plopped onto her nose, spraying into her face. She and Johnny looked up at the dark, looming clouds hesitantly as more water started to pour down. Johnny frowned.

"I don' like the look of those clouds…" he mumbled.

Meena nodded in agreement. The clouds hovered in dense, swirling waves. They had a tinge of green that could only mean one thing. A tornado was on its way. Johnny grabbed Meena's hand just as the rainstorm started to pour down on them with heavy, golf-ball sized rain drops. Meena could barely see anything as Johnny dragged her through the streets and through alley ways, the walls of buildings blurred by the heavy rain shower.

Johnny slammed the garage doors shut behind them as they both dripped, soaking wet, onto the cement floor. The familiar smell of Johnny's home warmed and comforted Meena despite the chill she felt from her wet clothes. Johnny didn't miss a beat as he hurried off to grab some flood guards. Meena helped him set them up, one for each garage door and one for the front door. When they were done the two of them slid to the floor, side by side, puddles of water dripping off of them as they breathed, exhausted.

Meena was the first to start laughing. It didn't take long for Johnny to join her. They leaned against each other, laughing until they cried. Johnny subconsciously slipped his hand around Meena's as their laughter slowly died into soft, tired giggles. Meena leaned against Johnny's shoulder as he rubbed his thumb against the back of her palm, the heavy rain beating like drums against the garage roof, numbing their thoughts into quiet exhaustion.

"That was fun." She sighed, closing her eyes.

Johnny nodded, pausing to take in the scene before them as they sat together in the dark garage, the rain drowning out the sound of their breathing. His heart pounded against his chest as he suddenly became very aware of Meena sitting next to him, her warm breath smoothing out the wet fur on his neck.

He could kiss her.

The thought was sharp and demanding. He could lean over and just kiss her.

Johnny shot up, pulling his hand out of Meena's with a start. Meena nearly toppled to the ground as Johnny moved away from her, her eyes looking up and watching him walk away curiously.

"The rain's pretty heavy…" he said slowly, "You, um, migh' have to stay for a while. I'll try to find some clothes for us to change into."

Meena watched Johnny as he climbed the ladder to the loft with ease, her brain processing what had just happened. Why had he moved away so quickly? With warmth to her cheeks, Meena realized that they'd been practically sitting on top of one another while holding hands. At the time, she hadn't thought too deeply about their close proximity. Johnny had always been comfortable with hugging her and leaning on her. Meena was starting to get used to it. She didn't realize that they'd been so close until Johnny moved away. Maybe he had more of a bubble then she realized.

Meena's cheeks burned in embarrassment and her mind screamed as she leaned her head against her knees. It was just the two of them, a girl and a guy, roughly the same age, alone in a dark garage. No wonder Johnny had acted so weird.

AN:

My chapters seem to be getting longer and longer.

I hope y'all are happy to finally read some romance brewing between these two idiots. Honestly, I'm glad I finally got to _write_ a little romance.

Thank you everyone for all the support and love I've been getting for this fanfiction both on and on tumblr! Y'all are awesome!


	9. I Believe You

Meena changed into some loose fitting clothes that Johnny's dad had left behind as her own soaked clothes sat crumpled on the floor. She was a little embarrassed knowing that she was too big to fit into anything Johnny owned but she wasn't embarrassed for long. Johnny's father had very nice clothing. Johnny told her that they were the cheap clothes his dad didn't wear very much (he had taken all of his favorite clothes with him when he went to prison) but Meena just couldn't believe it. The gray oversized sweater she was wearing was one hundred percent cashmere and the black pajama pants were a silk and polyester mix that had been ironed to perfection. Meena stared into Johnny's mirror, feeling overly fancy. She realized she must've been staring for a while when a knock came from the outside of the door.

"You alrigh' Meena?" Johnny asked.

Johnny had changed in his room and was now waiting on the other side of the door. Meena slowly peeked out of the bathroom door, half expecting Johnny to be wearing his own expensive cashmere and silk pajamas. She was surprised to see him wearing a simple black T-shirt, with a band name she didn't know printed on the front, and a pair of cheap stripped cotton bottoms. She handed him her soiled clothes and followed him back down the ladder towards the washroom with a question hanging on her tongue.

"Hey Johnny, what did your dad do for a living?" She asked curiously.

Meena remembered how Rosita had talked about Johnny's dad being in prison. Meena didn't want to pry back then, especially since Johnny had been out with a fever at the time, but she wondered if Johnny would be willing to tell her himself.

Johnny's hands froze for a moment, his wide eyes staring at the back metal of the dryer as he tried to think of what to say.

"He, um, had a lot of odd jobs." He replied slowly, "Why do ya ask?"

Meena fiddled with the bottom of the cashmere sweater with her hoof, the fabric softly rubbing against her course skin.

"I just noticed that a lot of the stuff he owns is pretty expensive - like the clothes you gave me and the china in the cabinet. I was wondering if he was a doctor or a lawyer or something."

Johnny shrugged. "M' dad likes to look professional. Nice suits, gold jewelry, that kind a thing. The china was my mum's, though."

Johnny started the dryer and turned to look at Meena as he leaned his back against the washer. She was standing in the doorway of the washroom, her blue eyes staring down as her shoulder rested lazily against the doorframe. Johnny's brain still focused on the intruding thought he'd had only minutes earlier, wanting to kiss her, and he couldn't help but think about how attractive Meena looked while she was standing there, backlit from the bright kitchen light. She looked up at him and then looked away.

"If you don't mind me asking… why is your dad in prison?"

The words escaped her lips like they were made of glass. Johnny looked down at his bare feet and wiggled his toes. Would she still want to be around him if she knew he'd been in a gang? What if she knew that his father had been the leader of a gang? Johnny couldn't count the times he'd distanced himself from friends and coworkers just so he could avoid talking about his dad and his dad's odd jobs.

"Most of his jobs weren't really legal." He responded, finally, his voice almost as soft as Meena's.

Part of him expected her to bolt out of his house but another part of him knew that telling the truth would be better then lying. He was tired of lying.

"Did you ever help him with his jobs?"

Johnny shifted his feet. He still wasn't looking at her.

"Um, yeah. Most of 'em. I never played any big parts, though, jus' watchin' or helpin' plan or somethin'."

"Oh." Meena took a deep breath, "So did you ever _hurt_ anyone?"

Johnny looked up at her and stared wide-eyed.

"Oh, gosh, no!" he quickly reassured her, "No, not really. I mean sometimes m' Dad got physical and the guys carried guns with 'em jus' in case but, um… no."

The more Johnny thought about it the more he realized that maybe there _had_ been people that had gotten hurt but he just never saw it. He was sure, though, that in all of their robberies they'd never killed anyone. His father was a thief, not a murderer.

"Oh." Meena's voice sounded more chipper this time, her shoulders visibly relaxing. "Good."

Johnny cleared his throat and changed the subject as he walked past her.

"Soooo do ya want somethin' t' eat? I don' got much but I still got some stuff from when Rosita was here."

Meena nodded, grateful for the change in conversation, and followed Johnny away from the laundry room and into the kitchen.

As Johnny looked around in the fridge Meena walked to the coffee table where she'd set her phone. She sent her mom a quick text to let her know what had happened and that she was stuck at Johnny's for a little while. As she looked up, Meena was surprised to see her baby blue jacket laying on top of a familiar broken down piano. They were set up in a corner on the other side of the garage alongside a few other instruments. Johnny turned just in time to see Meena moving slowly towards the piano, her trunk brushing the top of the piano as she picked up her jacket and held it close.

Meena started and backed away a little as Johnny spoke behind her.

"Moon let me keep it after the theatre was redone. He said they didn't need a broken down piano now that everythin' was fixed up. He knew I didn' have one so he kinda gave it 't me."

The piano looked like it had survived the apocalypse. Most of it barely held on, pulled together by duct tape and cords. Johnny's eyes were wistful as he brushed his fingers against the piano keys. Meena stared at his hands as they moved quietly across the black and white keyboard. She'd never realized how long his fingers were.

"What about the drums and the ukulele?" she asked curiously.

"Th' drums belong to m' dad's friend. He had no place to store 'em so we just kept 'em here. The ukulele's mine. Everyone plays where I'm from 'n m' dad taught me when we moved here."

Johnny picked up the ukulele and sat on the creaking piano bench, his fingers plucking the thin strings as he tuned it. The size of the ukulele was a little bigger then what Meena was used to but it still looked small wrapped between Johnny's hulking shoulders. It was made of light colored wood with a thin white strip on the sides and dark tribal designs burned around the middle. Johnny strummed a few notes and looked over at Meena with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Ya might recognize this one."

Before Meena could comment Johnny started humming the beginning of "Over the Rainbow" as his fingers strummed expertly. Meena straightened, watching as his hums turned into "ooh"s. Moments after he started singing the lyrics Meena jumped in to sing alongside him, dropping her voice a few times for the parts she couldn't remember and jumping in again as soon as she got back into the grove. They ended together on a final sweet note, their voices vibrating in the air as they harmonized. They both took a moment to smile and enjoy the silence after their harmony, the white noise of the rain a rippling applause for their tender performance.

Johnny cleared his throat and set the ukulele back down against the side of the piano, making his way back to the kitchen as Meena watched his retreating form. A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, making his fur look silver as the white light blinked past them. Meena's hands tightened around her blue jacket and she wondered how long Johnny had been keeping it for her. Meena couldn't remember where she had left it and Johnny had never mentioned anything about her leaving it at his house that night. The thought of him laying it on the piano as he played warmed her chest though she wasn't sure why.

Meena followed Johnny into the kitchen where she found him thawing out some chicken in the microwave, humming a tune that sounded familiar to her. She set her jacket down on the couch and followed him around the kitchen as he asked her to help with stirring the noodles and grabbing the seasoning from the cabinet.

"Do you cook a lot?" she asked.

"Sometimes. I used to cook for dad 'n the gang when they'd have their poker night but Barry would always complain that everythin' I made for 'em was too salty." He smiled at the memory.

Meena laughed as the two of them continued their strange dance around the kitchen. Johnny set out a pair of plates for the two of them on the coffee table in the makeshift living room as Meena brought out the chicken and pasta they'd made together. They sat quietly as they ate. Internally, Meena agreed with Barry; the food was a little too salty. However, Johnny's efforts and his joy in cooking was so endearing that Meena decided not to say anything.

"I'm not doing illegal stuff anymo'." Johnny said suddenly, trying to keep his face straight as he took another bite of his pasta. "Really, I'm not."

Meena turned to look at him, surprised by his sudden comment. She watched him as he ate, nonchalant, transfixed by his long fingers and the soft glisten of his fur in the dim lighting. Then she noticed his hands shaking as he lifted his fork up to his mouth, his eyes glued on his bowl. He looked so vulnerable. Warmth flooded into Meena's chest and she quickly resisted the urge to put her arms around him to comfort him.

"I believe you." She whispered.

After a while Johnny smiled, scrunching up his nose as his eyes watered.

"Thanks."

He sniffed and turned to the side, hiding his emotions. That's when he noticed Meena's phone light up.

"Hey I, uh, I think someone's tryin' t' call ya."

Meena looked over at her phone and jumped up, knocking over the coffee table and all the food on it. She yelped at the surprise of the table crashing and tripped over her feet as she reached around the mess towards her phone. Johnny stood up to try to catch her but instead both of them ended up falling over the side of the table, their knees knocking against the edge as they crashed to the floor. As they fell Johnny heard a sharp snap as one of the table legs broke on Meena's side and he groaned as her back landed against his arm. Somehow, they had both narrowly avoided landing on the broken ceramic bowl that had once contained the chicken and pasta that was now smashed into the carpet underneath them. There was silence as they both leaned back against the floor, unmoving, staring up at the ceiling.

"I think I bruised my leg." Johnny groaned.

Meena let out a puff of laughter. "I think I did too." She turned to look at him, "You know, you really need to stop getting hurt while trying to save me."

He laughed at that. "Agreed."

Johnny used his free hand to reach behind him where his lower back had landed on Meena's phone, holding it out for her to look at.

"Sorry. Looks like my weight broke your screen. I hope it still works."

Meena took it from him and looked at the small crack in the corner with concern. She pressed the on button on top and the screen lit up the same as usual. She scrolled through her messages to find several missed calls and a voicemail from her mom. Meena played the voice mail, her mother's voice echoing from the tiny microphone.

"Hey, Meena, it's your Mom! I just wanted to let you know I got your text! I'm a little worried about you staying in a house by yourself with just you and that boy so I called Mister Moon and he said he'd send someone over to pick you up. It's not that I don't trust you - I'm just worried about you and I don't want you coming home by yourself in this storm."

Meena sighed, a little embarrassed by the fact that the "boy" in question was lying on the floor next to her and could hear everything her mom was saying.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" the message continued, "I wanted to let you know that Pastor Gate and his family are going to be coming over for dinner next Thursday. Call me back when you get this message. Love you!"

Meena exited out of her voicemail and laid her phone on the floor beside her, a knot forming in her stomach. She didn't want to think about how that dinner was going to go. Did they want to talk about her possible solo career? Maybe they were just coming to check on her and her family. Meena knew that the Pastor did that sometimes when he was concerned about a situation and wanted to lend support.

Johnny rolled onto his side, trying to ignore the difficulty of having his legs still leaning on top of the overturned coffee table as he analyzed Meena's sunken expression.

"What's wrong?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "My church Pastor wants me to sing as a soloist at our church but I… don't really want to."

Johnny raised a questioning eyebrow, his right hand, still underneath Meena's shoulders, drawing circles along the side of her arm.

"Why not? You really love singin' and being a soloist at your church could really help you improve your talent."

She closed her eyes for a moment as she thought. "At first, when I told Pastor Gate that I would think about it, it was because I was scared of singing by myself on stage at church but now I think I'm hesitant for another reason. I don't want to stay here. I don't want a job that keeps me tied down to this place. Lately, I've been looking at different schools and work options and I really want to make a change for myself. If I don't change I feel like I'm never going to get over my stage fright."

Johnny's fingers stopped moving as Meena turned to look at him. His expression was unreadable but Meena thought she saw worry in his eyes.

"So you're plannin' on leavin'?"

"Yeah."

"When?"

"I don't know, maybe a few months from now? I already sent in my applications to a few different schools so I'm just waiting for them to get back to me."

Johnny felt sick. Meena was leaving and there was nothing he could do to stop her. Meena sat up quickly, mistaking his anxiety for something else.

"Don't worry!" she added quickly, "I plan on being here long enough to finish the show. I promise I won't leave you hanging."

Johnny smiled weakly, "Thanks."

Meena hovered for a moment as Johnny sat up, moving his legs off the table so he was sitting across from her. He looked down for a long while then turned to look at Meena. His heart ached in his chest.

"I'll miss ya when you leave."

They looked at each other for a long moment and Meena saw a longing in Johnny's eyes that she didn't quite understand. Why would he miss her? They'd only recently started getting to know each other. Meena looked away, her head feeling fuzzy as she grabbed her phone. Johnny cleared his throat as they both stood up and started working around the table, trying to clean some of the mess on the floor. While their hands were busy, Johnny decided to get back to the matter of Meena's concern.

"So why don't ya just tell that Gate guy whut you just told me? 'M sure he'd understand."

"Do you think so?" Meena asked doubtfully.

Johnny nodded, "Yeah. 'N if he don't then you can just call me 'n I'll come over 'n smack the bloke over th' head!"

Johnny dramatically raised his fist in the air and they both laughed, the tension in the air dissipating.

"So who do ya think Mister Moon sent to come 'n pick ya up?" Johnny asked.

Meena shrugged. They both spoke at the same time.

"Probably Rosita."

They laughed and seconds later there was a knock at the door. Johnny hurried to answer it, helping a soaked Rosita into the house. She wore a thick, plastic raincoat with a hood that was scrunched up around her face so only her eyes and her nose stuck out. Meena tried not to laugh at how hilarious Rosita looked as she dripped on the floor. Rosita handed Meena a bigger, thinner plastic raincoat for her to put on and before Rosita headed outside to keep the car warm and ready as Meena grabbed her clothes from the dryer. Johnny took Meena's elbow just as she was about to leave, stopping her for a moment. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I'm serious, though, if ya need me next Thursday… ya'know, if ya feel uncomfortable or anythin' just shoot me a text alrigh'?"

Meena felt her chest and cheeks warm at the sincerity in Johnny's words. They both stared at each other again, not wanting to release the contact. In Meena's head the events of the day played through her mind, focusing in on all of the times that Johnny had been affectionate towards her, and she wondered if maybe, just maybe…

They jumped as a flash of lightning and thunder rumbled against the sky, breaking their concentration. Meena hurriedly gave an incoherent reply as she ran out the door. Johnny watched Meena and Rosita drive away in the rain as his heart hammered in his chest, his fingers gripping the cold metal of the doorknob. The fact that Meena was planning on leaving still robbed him of any other thoughts. He didn't want her to leave. Johnny was painfully aware of the fact that his feelings for Meena had slowly overcome simple friendship and was growing into something more but he locked those feelings away and returned to cleaning, hoping that his Dad wouldn't be too upset over the broken coffee table.

AN: I hope there's enough romantic tension in this chapter to keep everyone satisfied. XD I originally planned on it being a really awkward interaction, the two of them stuck in Johnny's house together, but it ended up being just a cute/comfort kind of thing again. Their conversation about Johnny's Dad in this chapter will be important to the next chapter, though, so keep an eye out for that.

Also, y'all should go and check my tumblr if you haven't already! Recently, my sister started posting some Johnny x Meena art on her tumblr and I reblogged one of her fanarts under my Sing 2016 tag so people could go and check her out! The fanart I reblogged is actually a scene from last chapter which is super sweet. 3 she's also drawn Human! Versions of both Johnny and Meena so please go take a look!

Also thanks, as always, for reading! Hope y'all enjoy! C:


	10. Think About It

Thursday arrived like any other day but Meena couldn't ease the anxiety that she was feeling as the evening bore in. She set their noisy old vacuum back into the living room closet and made her way to the kitchen where her mother was hurrying about to get things ready for the Gates when they arrived. Meena stood in the doorway for a long while as she watched her mom, the smell of her mother's pot pie and peach cobbler permeating throughout the house. Her mother paused to wipe her hoofs on her apron and looked up to where Meena was standing quietly.

"What's wrong, Meena?" she asked.

Meena shifted her feet as she tried to think of what she wanted to say, feeling childish. She had a rather bad habit of just waiting for people to notice her before saying anything.

"I don't want Pastor Gate and his family to come over." She confessed in a sullen voice.

Meena's mother made her way across the kitchen so she could stand in front of her daughter, a concerned look on her face.

"Are you nervous because of the meeting you had with Pastor Gate a while ago?"

Meena nodded, looking down at her toes.

Meena's mother sighed and wrapped her arms around Meena's shoulders. The two of them barely fit in the doorway together but they didn't seem to mind as her mother's trunk smoothed soothingly over Meena's face.

"You should've told me sooner. I would've told the Pastor we were too busy this month for his usual visits."

A smile eased Meena's features as she pulled back to look up at her concerned mother.

"That'd be lying, mom."

Her mother huffed.

"I have no problem with lying if it means I'm protecting my family."

Her mother's trunk smoothed across Meena's face again, brushing aside her ears so her mother could get a good look at her face.

"You mean the world to me, peanut. If you feel uncomfortable at all we'll ask them to leave, okay?"

Meena nodded.

"Okay. Thanks mom."

Satisfied, her mother returned to her baking. Meena put on one of their extra aprons and helped her mother finish with the peach filling before going to the living room to set the table. She had to move aside a few pieces of furniture to have enough room to add a leaf to the table. In such a small house there was barely enough room for four elephants let alone three more guests.

As soon as Meena was done setting everything up she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, Meena saw a text message from Johnny. It read "FIGHT!" and had a line of angry emojis and then a "Good luck today" at the end. The silly message and the small encouragement eased some of the tension in Meena's shoulders. She already had two people on her side, what could go wrong?

After some final preparations the doorbell rang. Her mother wiped her hoofs off and hurried to let the Gate family in. Pastor Gate smiled warmly as he saw Meena's mom, his green and white Hawaiian shirt with his fisher's hat and shorts a compliment to his naturally green complexion. He gave Meena's mom a welcoming handshake and then turned to Meena's grandparents who were sitting on the couch leisurely, their conversation turning into white noise in the back of Meena's mind. The rest of Gate's family soon followed in. His wife, Priscilla Gate, adjusted her glasses when she entered and turned up her long nose slightly. She bowed her head respectfully to Meena's mother, her eyes scanning the room until they landed on Meena. Meena had never really took much notice of Priscilla and Priscilla, in turn, usually kept to herself but in that moment Meena suddenly had an uncomfortable feeling of inferiority. When Pastor Gate had entered the door he had filled the air with good-natured friendliness but when Priscilla entered she brought with her a refined, icy chill. Meena couldn't help from shivering as Priscilla's eyes settled on her, the woman's mouth taking a slight sour turn.

Their daughter, no older than thirteen, hid behind Priscilla's white silky skirt. The girl had sad, downcast eyes as if she didn't really want to be there. Her claws fidgeted nervously on her own dreary black pants and jacket and Meena, despite herself, couldn't help remembering her own years as a preteen and how hard it had been trying to get used to growing up. Meena smiled at the girl encouragingly and, seeing Meena smile at her, the girl attempted a shy wave.

Pastor Gate stood beside the young alligator and patted her head fondly.

"Lilah here is a real fan of your singing, Meena." He said affectionately, "A few Sundays ago she said how she really liked your voice which is what gave me the idea to ask you to join as a soloist."

"I see…" Meena replied in a non-committed fashion, suddenly feeling awkward.

"And what a waste of talent it is…" Priscilla muttered her voice a small whisper in the background.

Pastor Gate turned a sharp-eyed glare on his wife but neither Meena nor Lilah seemed to notice Priscilla's comment. Meena knelt down to talk to Lilah as the adults chatted.

"Do you like to sing?" Meena asked curiously.

Lilah smiled a small smile, hiding her face from her parents, and nodded gently.

"Then why don't you sing at church?" Meena asked.

The girl pursed her lips and looked down.

"I'm scared." She said back but by the way that her eyes glanced to her mother Meena had to wonder if there was more to the story then Lilah just being scared.

Still, Meena's heart ached in understanding. She remembered her first time going out and singing on stage in front of a live audience back at Moon's theatre. After her first performance, it became easier to deal with her stage fright. Fear was a real thing and there were some days when Meena found that her old fears still crept into her heart and took over. It was like a constant battle with herself.

"It's okay to be scared. I get scared, too," she said slowly, "but one way to get over the fear is just to go out and do it and then you won't be scared anymore because you'll be doing what you love."

Lilah's smile widened a little with hope as she considered Meena's words.

It wasn't long before everyone gathered to the table. They gave grace and started piling on spoonfuls of piping hot food. The Gates had brought a fruit salad to add to the dishes and Meena's mother thanked them graciously. Everyone talked with animated excitement and even gloomy Lilah seemed to enjoy some of the conversation as she listened to Pastor Gate and Meena's grandfather brag about some event or another. As for Meena, she was starting to think that her anxieties had been unwarranted and that the dinner really was a simple house visit. The only one who sat in disapproving silence was Priscilla.

Priscilla finally spoke up as Meena and Meena's mother stood up to put away everyone's plates at the conclusion of the meal.

"So, Meena, have you finally decided to join the church choir as our soloist?" she asked icily.

Meena froze, her hoof pausing as she grabbed a hold of Priscilla's plate. She took a deep, steadying breath to settle the adrenaline that pulsed in her chest. Meena tried to choose her words carefully.

"I'm sorry, Miss Priscilla, but I decided I'm not going to become the choir's soloist. There are more important things that I want to focus my time on at the moment, although I truly appreciate the offer."

Meena turned her eyes to look at Pastor Gate to gauge his disapproval. He simply smiled back and nodded, seemingly unconcerned with her statement. His ease lifted the burden from Meena's shoulders and left her feeling light and accepted.

"Well, thank you, Meena," Pastor Gate began to say, "for your honestly. I guess we'll just have to-"

Priscilla's sharp laugh cut through the room like a shattering of ice. She stood up haughtily, staring down her nose at Meena despite the fact that Meena stood at least a head or so taller than the alligator. It was a little disorienting. Lilah flinched away from her mother while all of the adults at the table, excluding Meena's grandmother who was distracted by some of the food in front of her, stared at Priscilla as if she was mad.

"You must really think you're something." She hissed, pausing a moment for effect.

"All I ever hear is people singing your praises yet an opportunity comes at you and this is how you react? Your ungrateful attitude disgusts me. Why did that two bit koala choose someone like you, a girl that can't even get over her stage fright, over a trained opera singer like me?! He was a fool!"

Priscilla glared with hot, teary eyes as Meena stared and realization flashed in her mind. Priscilla had gone to the tryouts at Moon Theater and hadn't been placed. Now, even her husband unknowingly insults her by asking Meena to be the choir soloist instead of his own wife.

Everything about the dramatic situation seemed a little silly to Meena. If Priscilla had wanted the position, why didn't she say anything instead of acting out in a way that was embarrassing for both families? No doubt Meena and Pastor Gate would've gladly allowed her to take the position of the choir soloist. Meena opened her mouth to reply but was stopped by Priscilla's next outburst.

"You have so much talent and opportunity and it's as if you're rubbing it in the face of those who never got such a lucky break! And worse, still, you have the gall to parade around town with a convicted man's son, further ruining the reputation of the community that you live in!"

Meena's heart nearly stopped.

Pastor Gate put a firm hand on his wife's shoulder, standing up beside her.

"Priscilla, I think that's quite enough."

The woman turned to her husband with a prideful air, yanking her arm away from his grip.

"You're right. It is quite enough. Quite enough that Meena is _so_ talented that she didn't need to do any schooling for her voice- that she didn't need to do any work to get her spot as a singer in a theater. Even worse is the secret that she's keeping from her mother and her grandparents. _I_ have certainly had enough of it."

Priscilla turned to Meena's mother.

"A few weeks ago I saw Meena being embraced by a young gorilla on the street. He looked familiar so, out of concern, I looked him up."

"Out of nosiness is what it sounds like…" Meena's grandfather huffed, already seeing where this was going and not liking one bit of it.

"His name is Johnny, one of the other singers within her little theater group! At first I thought nothing of it until Mrs. Pierson discussed some old news with me about a man who had been caught and convicted of multiple robberies. I was surprised to learn, from Mrs. Pierson, that this convict was the father of one of the singers that had performed at Moon Theater. I looked up the convict and the convict's son and discovered the truth for myself!"

By now Priscilla seemed quite haughty and full of herself, unaware of the looks she was receiving from the people in the room.

"The news article I read talked about the trial after the Moon Theater performance and how the son, Johnny, had been accused as well but was quickly released after a brief trial declaring that there was no evidence to prove that he had done anything to be convicted."

A hush fell on the room. It was obvious what she was suggesting. Priscilla's sharp eyes focused in on Meena's mother.

"I can't believe that your family would allow Meena to be in a relationship with a gang member!" then, to conclude her statement, she added under her breath, "Like mother like daughter, I suppose."

Meena slammed her hooves on the table, a few of the plates crashing to the ground in shattered pieces. Her trunk had scrunched up close to her face and her freckled cheeks were red with anger. She had never felt so angry in her life.

"How dare you." She said, her voice low and barely controlled, "Johnny is one of the greatest people I have ever met! I don't care what you say about me but you have no right to insult him and you have no right to insult my mother." She pointed at the doorway, her eyes dark and her voice strained, "Get out."

Priscilla didn't need to be told twice. She only paused at the door to slip on her white heels before slamming the door behind her. Pastor Gate and Lilah both stared at the door in shock, unsure of what to say or do in the situation. They decided to stay for a few moments so they could help clean up the mess of the shattered plates and to help Meena's mother put away the food before leaving. Once the Gate's car engine turned and could be heard disappearing down the road Meena ran into her room and slammed the door shut. Her hoofs shook as she tried to open up her phone's contact screen, looking up Johnny's name. The phone rang only twice before Johnny answered, grunting as he huddled the cell phone between his ear and shoulder.

"Yea'?"

Upon hearing Johnny's voice, Meena burst into tears, falling to the floor as she leaned against the back of her bedroom door. Johnny was so surprised that he dropped whatever it was he had been holding and a familiar voice shouted in alarm in the background. It took Johnny nearly a half an hour to calm her down enough so that she could explain what had happened. The two of them talked on the phone for a long while and they continued to talk a few hours after she had finished crying and even after Meena's family had long since gone to bed.

"Are you feeling better?" Johnny eventually asked when there was a break in their conversation.

Meena thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, Johnny." Meena sighed in content, glad that she had a friend like Johnny who would drop anything (literally) to help her out.

She turned her blue eyes up to look at her clock and stared at the numbers that read eleven forty five pm.

"Sorry. It's late. I should let you go." She fiddled with her jacket sleeves nervously, wishing that she could talk to him for forever. "Do you think we could hang out sometime tomorrow?" she added finally, "I want to see you."

There was silence on the other end of the phone and for a brief moment Meena wondered if Johnny had accidentally hung up on her.

"Why don' we hang out right now?"

Meena's blue eyes went wide.

"Right now? Johnny, it's almost twelve o'clock!"

He laughed on the other end of the receiver.

"Oh, come on, Meena, where's yo' sense of adventure?"

"Um…" was all she could think to say.

"It's decided. I've already got m' keys. I'll be over in a minute!"

And before Meena could protest any more Johnny hung up on her. Meena stared at the blank, cracked screen of the phone in her hands, her heart thumping in her chest. Johnny was driving over to see her. That minute. In the middle of the night. Her head had a familiar fuzz of pleasure and joy. It was the same feeling she'd had when they had held hands in his garage only a few days ago but Meena tried her best to push that thought aside as she stood up and slowly opened her door. The hinges creaked slightly, much to her dismay, but her mother and grandparents down the hall made no sign of stirring. She snatched up her keys and made her way to the front door as quietly as her big clumsy feet could allow. Once Meena was outside she looked up into the sky. Clouds brushed across the stars and she felt the cool chill of the wind against her leathery skin. She hurried to the end of her lawn and waited, unsure of what else she could do.

Some of Priscilla's words intruded into her thoughts. "Still, you have the gall to parade around town with a convicted man's son." Meena lifted her head defiantly. She very much had the gall to parade around town with a convicted man's son, thank you very much. The more she thought about Johnny the more Meena saw his goodness and virtue as a man and, someday, she really hoped she'd get to meet the father that had raised him.

Johnny's truck suddenly pulled up alongside her, startling her out of her thoughts. Johnny leaned over to the passenger side and opened the door without turning the engine off. He smiled sheepishly.

"T' be honest, I didn' think you'd be waitin' for me." He admitted as Meena got nearer to the car.

Meena was starting to have second thoughts.

"M-maybe this isn't a good idea, Johnny…" she said slowly, one hoof playing with the car door and the other fidgeting with her jacket zipper. "W-what if my mom finds out that I-I… that I snuck out in the middle of the night?"

Meena had never snuck out in her life. Maybe that was why she was having such a hard time imagining her mother's face if her mother learned about it. Johnny put the car in park and climbed out, coming around to talk to her. He smiled at her encouragingly.

"It's jus' a drive t' the park, Meena. I doubt your mum would have much of a fit over that."

Meena stared into Johnny's expressive brown eyes for a long moment before she decided to concede. She slid into Johnny's truck as he closed the door behind her and ran around the front of the car to jump into the driver's seat. Looking at it, Meena was quite surprised that Johnny's truck didn't have more room. It was still roomier then Rosita's car but not by much as the two of them sat, their shoulders brushing against each other. Maybe it was because they were shoulder to shoulder that made Meena think that the car felt unusually warm.

True to his word, Johnny drove them to the nearby park, turning off his engine and running out of the truck like a child. He turned to look at Meena who still sat in the passenger seat, wondering how Johnny could seem like such a gentleman one moment and then just like a kid the next. She slowly made her way out of the car to follow him, watching him with interest as he climbed up onto the monkey bars.

"Come on, Meena! I thought you wanted t' "hang out!""

Johnny smiled stupidly at his own joke as Meena snorted and shook her head. Eventually, she joined him on the playground, being as tentative as possible so she wouldn't break anything. They laughed on the monkey bars as Meena tried her best to stay on ("I hate the monkey bars!" she had complained to a humored Johnny who maneuvered on the bars with ease), pushed each other down the zip line, and very slowly slid down the slides that had become much too small for them. At one point, Meena got stuck in the tubed slide and Johnny had to slide down behind her to push her out. They both landed in a giggling heap at the bottom as Meena was finally released from the confines of her tube slide prison.

They calmed down from their fits of giggles and laughter as they sat on the swing set, both of them sitting in quiet contemplation as the cool night wind chilled their skin. Meena was really glad that Johnny had brought her out to the park. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much and after the drama she'd had at the house Meena was definitely in need of a respite. Johnny, on the other hand, was fighting with his inner turmoil. When he had heard Meena's voice break on the phone earlier that night his heart had felt like it had stopped. When he had heard of how she had defended him his throat had constricted. Most of all, when she had said the words "I want to see you." It was as if she had read his mind because she was all he could think about.

"Oi, Meena?"

Meena blinked away her thoughts and turned to look at Johnny. His eyes were wide and searching and the atmosphere around them suddenly became tense with electricity. Johnny stood up from the swing, which wiggled quietly in irritation with his leaving, as he moved to hover over Meena. Like this, he was finally taller than her. His fingers deftly clenched around the swing's chains above Meena's head and Meena was suddenly aware of the intensity of his eyes, of how wide his shoulders were, and how warm he was when he was close by her.

"I like you."

Meena's heart jumped into her throat as she quickly looked down in surprise at his words. Johnny continued, brushing one hand along her cheek and pushing one of her ears from off of her face as her ears moved to try and hide her.

"I really like you 'n… 'n I want to date you."

Meena looked back up, realizing that Johnny's hands were shaking anxiously and that he was waiting for her to reply. The more she tried to think, the closer he seemed to get.

"I… um…" Meena's head felt fuzzy as she tried to gain some control on the situation.

Just then a light flashed on the two of them, causing Johnny to jump away, startled, as Meena flung herself off of the swing. To complete the effect, she even squeaked a little. The light flashed towards the ground while Johnny and Meena's eyes refocused, finally seeing the bunny cop behind the intrusion.

"We got a call saying that there was some disturbance going on in the area…" the rabbit commented dryly, "but it looks like it's just a couple of kids playing hooky in the middle of the night."

Meena and Johnny both looked down guiltily. The rabbit turned her light onto Johnny who squinted in discomfort.

"Listen, kid, it's all good and fun to flirt with your girlfriend in the romantic moonlight but this is a residential area and it's well passed curfew. You could get into a lot of trouble being out at this time of night."

Meena's overactive brain (still fried from all of the excitement) quickly jumped to conclusions and imagined the bunny cop dragging Johnny away in the back of her cop car.

"W-we weren't doing anything!" Meena blurted, "W-we're friends and- and I had a bad day so Johnny took me here to cheer me up, that's all! I-I'm sorry that we were so loud. I promise we won't be so loud, I promise we won't do it again!" Meena stuttered, unable to really process any of the words that she was saying.

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down." The bunny interjected finally, a guilty look on her face.

The cop sighed, turning her flashlight off so she looked less like she was interrogating them. The window to the cop car behind her rolled down as the cop's partner, a red fox who was wearing sunglasses despite the dim lighting, stuck his head and called out.

"Leave them be, Carrots. It's not like they're doing anything wrong."

The bunny turned to give the fox an icy glare before turning back to Meena and Johnny.

"Sorry that I scared you, that wasn't my intention. You two look like a pair of smart kids so I suggest you take my advice and head home soon, okay?"

Meena and Johnny both nodded with the looks of scolded children as the cop stalked back to her car and drove off, leaving the two of them behind in the dim moonlight. Obediently, they climbed into Johnny's truck so Johnny could drive Meena home. Neither of them said anything during the drive and as Johnny parked in front of Meena's house and turned off his engine the two of them sat in silence, unsure of how to break the awkwardness that had come between them. Several times Meena opened her mouth to say something but she always stopped herself, realizing that what she was going to say wasn't really that important. Finally, Johnny reached his hand over and took her hoof, his fingers rubbing softly against her palm.

With new awareness, Meena wondered if she should pull her hand away or not.

"Sorry if I sprang m' feelings on ya so suddenly. Ya' don' need to reply right away… jus' think 'bout it, alrigh'?"

Meena nodded mechanically in response and Johnny pulled his hand away, leaving her own palm feeling cold and empty. She climbed out of the truck, stalling by the open car door. She slowly looked up at Johnny who was staring down at his fidgeting fingers. She felt like she had to say something.

"Th-thank you for taking me out tonight, Johnny…" she said, realizing in the back of her mind that it sounded like he was dropping her off after a date, "I really appreciate you and…" she hesitated only a moment, "And I'll think about it."

Meena shut the car door and hurried up her walkway into her house as Johnny stared after her. Neither of them slept very well that night.

AN: Wow… okay! Well, here it is, the much awaited chapter! I really have to apologize for taking so long (so many months… I'm so sorry…) but around the time of the last chapter I was very busy getting ready for my first semester at school so writing fanfiction was at the back of my mind. I still don't know if I'll be very steady in updating or not but I can guarantee that I'll see this fanfic through to the end.

Thank you to everyone who decided to watch this fanfic while I've been away. I kept getting notes of encouragements and notices of new followers throughout the last few months and I'm so glad that there are people that enjoy my Meena x Johnny interactions.

Also, there are a few characters from another movie that made a cameo appearance in this chapter. Did you notice them?

Thank you everyone for your continued love and support! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!


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